Klojen (malangkota.go.id) – The audience and coordination meeting between the Malang City Interfaith Harmony Forum (FKUB) and the Mayor of Malang in the context of implementing the Christmas and New Year celebration visit was held in the Malang Mayor's Meeting Room, Sunday (23/12).
The Mayor of Malang, Drs. H. Sutiaji, accompanied by the Regional Secretary of Malang City, Drs. Wasto, SH, MH, led the audience and coordination meeting directly.
Just like before Eid al-Fitr where the Mayor of Malang always holds a Ramadan Safari, now the Mayor of Malang, Sutiaji, has also made it a tradition to hold a safari to churches before the 2018 Christmas celebration.
The visit to the churches is a form of friendship and togetherness of steps between the Malang City Government and the community, especially in the context of tolerance and harmony between religious communities.
The gathering of the Mayor of Malang and the Malang City Forkopimda is planned to be held on Monday (24/12/2018).
"This activity is a visit that we will carry out so that the conduciveness in Malang City continues to be maintained, so that our brothers and sisters who are celebrating Christmas can worship calmly and solemnly," said Sutiaji.
Sutiaji also advised the FKUB of Malang City to continue to increase its role in realizing harmony between religious communities in Malang City.
"Based on existing data, according to the East Java Province FKUB, Malang City is ranked first in terms of maintaining conduciveness and harmony between religious communities, so we must continue to maintain this," he stressed.
Meanwhile, Nugroho as a Catholic religious element at the Malang City FKUB stated that regarding the appeal letter from the Mayor of Malang which had gone viral some time ago, he said that this actually happened only because of a misinterpretation of the contents of the appeal letter.
Moreover, as stated by Nugroho, with track record Malang Mayor Sutiaji, who has always respected diversity, believes that the circular is not intended to limit Christians from celebrating Christmas.
"It was stated that the demonstration was not during the Christmas celebration but rather during the New Year celebration, because in fact anything celebrated excessively is also not good," added Nugroho.
We as Christians and administrators of the Malang City FKUB, continued Nugroho, fully understand the commitment of the Mayor of Malang, Sutiaji, towards the tolerance he has implemented for the sake of religious harmony in Malang City.
"There is no prohibition to celebrate Christmas for Christians, everything will continue as before, but it remains our shared responsibility including the Malang City Government to maintain and create a conducive atmosphere," said Nugroho. (say/yon)
