Economic Week, or E-Week as it's commonly known, is one of the largest programs of the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) Universitas Airlangga. This year's E-Week carries the theme "Indonesia Staring the World," and will feature three sub-events: social action, the International Development Seminar Conference (IDSC), and Efestaphoria.
At a social action event held on Sunday (October 28th), Deputy Dean I of the Faculty of Economics and Business, Dr. Rudi Purwono, SE., MSE., stated that coinciding with Youth Pledge Day, young people have an equal role to play. Each individual certainly has their own strengths and weaknesses.
"Weaknesses are not a barrier to us showing that we are capable, so let's show our strengths," he explained in front of 250 participants, both students and the general public.
Meanwhile, Hinanda Tomi Adikoro, as the head of E-Week said that E-Week consists of 3 sub-events, namely social action which was held on October 28, 2018, IDSC on October 29-31 and Efestaphoria on November 3. In addition to FEB branding, he continued, E-Week was also held to show that Indonesian students are able to create activities that raise hot world issues such as disability, digital economy, and youth creative economy.
The 2016 Management student added that the social action event featured a talk show featuring people with disabilities as speakers. This was due to the growing prevalence of disability issues in Indonesia. Many people disrespect them and rarely even communicate with them.
"So we want to show that they are actually the same," he said.
Hinandi added that the event also aimed to demonstrate that people with disabilities possess extraordinary abilities. He recounted an incident where a blind person had just gotten off a public minibus and was standing on the side of the road. Suddenly, someone offered to let him cross the road without asking. He hadn't intended to cross at all.
"So before helping, please ask them whether they need help or not and teach them to be independent and respect them like normal people," he added.
Hinandi hopes that the event will continue in the future and will also be seen as a form of concern for the issues raised and can be beneficial for the general public.
Author: M. Najib Rahman
Editor: Nuri Hermawan