The award from the local media workers’ association was awarded to five personalities. Among the winners are a scientist who worked on the Covid-19 vaccine, a singer committed to the fight against fundamentalism, a journalist and a general.
Jakarta (AsiaNews) – A scientist, a singer, a badminton player, an intelligence expert and a journalist. These are the five professionals awarded yesterday by the Association of Catholic Journalists of Indonesia (Paguyuban Wartawan Katolik Indonesia, PWKI) for their work in the country and abroad
The award ceremony was online and more than 160 members of the association and personalities gave their present. The Indonesian ambassador to the Holy See, Laurentius Amrih Jinangkung, participated from Rome.
Carina Citra Dewi Joe is a scientist who helped develop the AstraZeneca vaccine at the University of Oxford. Accepting the award from the UK, she said she was proud to be an Indonesian abroad and spoke of the importance of scientific development: “This award reflects how important it is to study science and focus on vaccines, a key tool in making against the Covid-19 pandemic.
Another recognition went to the singer Cinta Laura Kiehl, of a German father and an Indonesian mother. She is an idol of young people, on several occasions she has spoken out against religious fundamentalism and identity politics. The PWKI gave him the award for opposing the “disintegration” of Indonesian society.
Jonathan Christie, meanwhile, is a Catholic badminton player. After the 2018 earthquake that devastated the island of Lombok, whose population is majority Muslim, he financed the reconstruction of churches and mosques.
The last two awards went to intelligence expert and General AM Hendropriyono, who headed Indonesia’s intelligence service and was commander of Jakarta from 1993 to 1994, and Catholic journalist from the Compass Daily Pieter Gero, whose contribution to the PWKI foundation was “undoubtedly very important.”
