Kompas Online
Monday, 21 April 1997

                 Gus Dur: Challenges increasingly diversified
                                       
   Surabaya, Kompas Online
   The General Chairman of the Central Directing Board of Nahdatul Ulama
   (NU), KH Abdurrahman Wahid, asked that the Ansor Youth Movement (GP
   Ansor) be able to look to the future and ponder the coming era. This
   is an extremely important matter because at present the NU members,
   including the GP Ansor, are in an era replete with obstacles and
   challenges.
   
   Gus Dur, cordial nickname for Abdurrahman Wahid, disclosed this matter
   at the Roll Call of GP Ansor's Multipurpose Formation (Banser), in
   commemoration of the 63rd Anniversary of the Movement, held in the
   Headquarters of the Vth/Brawijaya Military Region Command. Attending
   the event were Cooperatives/PPK Minister Subiakto Tjakrawerdaya, Army
   Chief-of-Staff General Hartono, Functional Group Central Directing
   Board Chairperson Mrs Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, Governor Basofi
   Sudirman and the Vth/Brawijaya Miltary Region Commander Maj.Gen. Imam
   Utomo.
   
   According to Gus Dur, speaking to some 10,000 members of the Banser GP
   Ansor, if previously development was still limited in character, then
   in the coming era the problems to be faced will be increasingly
   diversified, and will demand extraordinary skills. For that, the
   readiness and at the same time the strength of the Nu members are
   required to face those challenges.
   
   Seeing the challenges of that coming era, the NU members, including
   the Ansor Youth Movement, must be able to reflect on the past for
   projection into the future. "To respond to those challenges, the NU
   youth must be able to temper themselves and exploit the experience of
   their predecessors.
   
   Moreover, added this grandson of the founder of the NU, development in
   the coming era with all its challenges may cause the color of NU to
   dissolve and its social ties to be looser than has been the case all
   along. "If in the past the NU was a great family, at a certain moment
   it might develop into a core family,' he emphasized.
   
   What this means, according to Gus Dur, is that decisions are made in
   an atmosphere where one or the other has lost its ties with the core.
   Conditions like this can engender upheaval such as has often happened
   lately. "The dissolution of social ties will dilute community life,"
   he said.
   
   Therefore it is hoped that every member of the NU will continue to
   nurture internal solidarity and develop himself by mastering science
   and technology. "In associating with older generations, all should
   adhere to the NU regulations in order to be more ready to face the
   obstacles and challenges of the times," he said. (*)