President Joko widodo has inaugurated the Papua Youth Creative Hub (PYCH) or the Papua Young Talents Big House in March 2023 which is a forum for young people in Papua to accommodate talents and improve their skills so that young people in Papua can be more advanced in all areas of life . The construction and inauguration of the Papua Youth Creative Hub (PYCH) is a follow-up to President Jokowi’s meeting with Inspiring Young Papuans (PMI) at a meeting in September 2019. The meeting discussed the quality of Papuan youth and their talents which could be improved if there were adequate facilities from the government.
PYCH operates under the auspices of the National Intelligence Service (BIN) because Inspiring Young Papuans (PIM) also operate under the auspices of BIN. PIM has a duty to bring new enthusiasm for young people in Papua so that they can implement and realize the ideas and ideas they have for advancing the welfare of the Papuan people which is the main goal for the government. BIN is committed that the existence of PYCH will have great benefits for young people in Papua and benefit Papua as a whole. PYCH has the potential to improve welfare, skills and knowledge as well as increase empowerment for people in Papua. PYCH is here as proof that Indonesia cares about Papua and builds all over Indonesia.
Jokowi at the inauguration of PYCH gave a speech about his feelings for the presence and inauguration of PYCH in Papua.
“The Papua Youth Creative Hub is a forum, a job opportunity, and a very, very good job opportunity for the community, especially youth in Papua. I really don’t want many people to only dream of becoming civil servants, but I want people to be engaged in fields they like and have talent in them. I was very happy to see many young people who have talent and want to work in the field of fashion, there are also those in the fields of music, photography and application platform technology which in my opinion are very good things for young people to take advantage of. This opportunity must be filled and utilized by Indonesian youth.”
PYCH is not only a building, but the community within it contains young people who have the potential to elevate Indonesia’s status in the eyes of the world. Currently, PYCH has 12,843 members, which continues to grow every year. Initially PYCH in 2019 only had 23 members which increased to 7,025 in 2021 and will increase to 12 thousand members in 2023 spread across 21 regencies and cities in Papua and West Papua. This is something very good because there will certainly be more and more young men and women in Papua who will take advantage of the facilities at PYCH and maximize their potential in their respective fields.
PYCH is a 2-storey building that has a building area of 3,520 square meters with supporting buildings covering an area of 1,812 square meters and is beautified by a natural landscape of 3,000 square meters. This building has two roofs, each of which represents the roof of a traditional Papuan house which depicts the philosophy of community life and traditional life in Papua.
Furthermore, Jokowi also explained that development in Indonesia is an even development and he also explained his hopes for the Papuan youth and PYCH.
“The development of PYCH is proof that development in Indonesia is not Java-centric or that development is not only centered on the island of Java but is evenly distributed in all corners of Indonesia, development in Indonesia is Indonesia-centric. We are also working on development on the outskirts of Indonesia so that every young man in Indonesia has the same opportunity. I hope that this PYCH will be useful for young people in Papua because according to data 60% of the population of Papua means that the majority of the population of Papua are youth. Hopefully the talents of young people can be improved so that they can make the nation proud on the world stage.” Said the Indonesian President.
The existence of PYCH is the realization of a government program that is building Indonesia from the periphery. This program does not only mean infrastructure development, but also the development of community empowerment so that this program is effective and on target. With the construction of PYCH, Indonesia will get one step forward in realizing Indonesia’s ideals, namely a golden Indonesia in 2045 because youth in Papua are expected to be one of the actors who can make a major contribution in realizing Indonesia’s golden aspirations in 2045 with all the facilities available at PYCH.
Despite the increasingly modern competition in the future, it is hoped that youth in Papua will still be able to compete and be able to work like youth in other parts of Indonesia. At PYCH this does not only support the interest of modern talent, traditional Papuan life is also raised by providing facilities for the entrepreneurial sector such as crafts and typical Papuan food so that each sector of life in Papua can increase its potential.