Representatives from Soka Gakkai Malaysia joined members from the Federation of National Writer Associations of Malaysia (GAPENA) on a cultural visit to Indonesia from March 3 to 6, 2008. The SGM delegation comprised General Director Choo Kong Fei, Secretary-General Koh Sia Feai, Public Relations Officers Joanne Foo and Chan Yin Kwan. Joining them in Indonesia were four SGI-Indonesia representatives – General Director Peter Nurhan, Adviser T. Pontoh, staff Tetsuji Taguchi and Heryanto. The GAPENA delegation of twenty writers, scholars and cultural activists, was led by its president, Tan Sri Dato’ Dr Ismail Hussein.

One of the highlights of the trip was the visit to Ma’had Al-Zaytun, an international education centre dedicated to the development of a culture of tolerance and peace. The Al-Zaytun Centre has a unique education system comprising elementary school, high school and university level. It was established in 1999 and is led by Syaykh AS Panji Gumilang. Its campus occupies 1,200 hectares of land. Among the facilities in its campus is a seven-storey mosque, a stadium, health care centre, reservoir, plantation area and fish ponds.

In his speech to welcome the delegates, Syaykh AS Panji Gumilang encourages the several hundreds of students who were with the delegation to create friendships that are not only based on religion and creed, but those that were based on our shared humanity. This is also in line with the teachings of Islam. He also said that a cultured person is one who creates peace through the means of among others, the arts and culture, instead of peace through war. SGM General Director Choo also shared his impressions about his visit to the Al-Zaytun campus and praised the leadership for establishing world-class infrastructure and for inculcating universal, noble ideals to the students. He also introduced SGI President Ikeda to the students and highlighted that the Soka University share similar educational ideals and values with the Al-Zaytun Centre.

On March 5, the delegation participated in a seminar entitled “Dialog Budaya Indonesia-Malaysia” with the aim of promoting further understanding to strengthen the bilateral relationship between the two countries. This seminar was created to help ease tensions and dispel misunderstandings between the two countries including issues on Malaysia’s usage of folk songs and dance in their tourism campaign. The seminar was officially opened by the Director-General for Cultural Values, the Arts and Film, of the Department of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Indonesia, Dr Mukhlis PaEni, representing Minister Jero Wacik. The dialogue was attended by experts on culture and history from both countries. Dr Mukhlis PaEni, in his capacity as Chairman of the Indonesian Society of Historians informed the meeting that bilateral co-operation between Indonesia and Malaysia has improved considerably throughout the years. However, the recent misunderstandings that evolved between Indonesia and Malaysia were caused by a lack of knowledge and understanding on both sides of each others’ cultures. Discussions on the cultural, religious, language and historical links that the both countries shared were highlighted.

The GAPENA delegation also visited the SGI- Indonesia Culture Centre at Bandar Kemayoran, Jakarta for a dinner session and was entertained with two cultural performances. Also invited to this session were representatives from the Indonesian National Youth Council Central Board, led by its Secretary-General Munawar Fuad. In his speech, SGI-Indonesia General Director Peter Nurhan emphasised that SGI members strove to work with people of all faiths and ethnicities. He shared that in the 1970s, when SGI President Ikeda was asked why a Buddhist leader wanted to visit the Soviet Union, a socialist country that rejected religion, he just answered because there were people there. Mr Nurhan also shared some of the efforts by SGI to strengthen understanding towards other faiths such as Islam among its members and the public.

Tan Sri Ismail Hussein in his speech mentioned that as a promoter of culture, he is proud of the friendship he has formed with SGI which blossomed since three years ago. He has been observing SGI for the past 30 years and has been very impressed with the leadership of President Ikeda and the ideals that SGI upholds. Tan Sri is appreciative of the efforts by SGI in promoting peace. He often tells his friends that if they want an example of spirituality, idealism, volunteerism, vision and the power of outstanding people, then look at the SGI and the actions of its leader, President Ikeda. Tan Sri mentioned that he was attracted with SGI’s involvement in arts and culture and that President Ikeda himself was a photographer, writer and poet. Tan Sri expressed his praise and respect for Ikeda and SGI for having big dreams and actualising them. He says that there are many things to learn from the SGI and he truly appreciates this friendship. Tan Sri further pointed out that Al-Zaytun shares similar values with Soka University and that they also seek to nurture young people in a wholesome manner. GAPENA hopes that they will be further cooperation not only between the two organisations but also together with others.

Indonesian National Youth Council Central Board Secretary-General Munawar Fuad informed the crowd that they have been working closely with SGI-Indonesia in several events. His organisation has also held dialogues with representatives from Malaysia as it is important for people of the two countries to hold people-to-people dialogues and not just rely on politicians for enhancing the bilateral relationship. He also told the Malaysian party not to worry when hearing negative comments in the media as they are not affected by such remarks and will also do their best to strengthen the ties of the two countries, especially among the youth.