Switzerland Ambassador to Indonesia, H.E. Yvonne Baumann Gave Commencement Speech in ITB Graduation Ceremony

April 07, 2018 - ( update : 12-04-2018 )

By Fivien Nur Savitri, ST, MT

Editor Fivien Nur Savitri, ST, MT

Bandung, itb.ac.id – Saturday, April 7, 2018, ITB held Graduation Ceremony for 567 students of Undergraduate Programs from 12 Faculties/Schools. Her Excellency Yvonne Baumann, the Switzerland Ambassador to Indonesia, ASEAN, and Timor Leste, was also present to give commencement speech before the graduates, parents, and the guests in Sasana Budaya Ganesa.

This was not Baumann’s first time coming to Bandung, but this is the first time she came to ITB. She was pleased to be able to visit Bandung again, this time to witness the Graduation Ceremony of ITB, whom she thinks have been producing many good scientists, engineers, and business leaders.

According to Baumann, education plays an important part in our lives. “It is the strongest thing, because with education we can change the world,” said Baumann. She uses Stephen Hawking, a famous scientist who just recently passed away, as an example. With his poor physical condition, Hawking changed the world by doing researches in cosmology.

This proves that with education, we can create a better world than the previous generation. Nowadays, learning becomes easier with the help of technology, such as internet, laptop, and smartphone. Education can be used to solve some problems, especially overcoming hoaxes by mastering technology. "Indonesia is one of the countries with the best democratic transformation," said Baumann. Today, the world is more peaceful, all thanks to education. Education changes the world. Whatever you do, whatever title you got, that is your strength. "Beautiful thing about learning is that anyone can take it from you, because there is always something you can do," finish Baumann.

H.E. Yvonne Baumann is one of the ambassadors who had the chance to attend ITB’s Graduation Ceremony. Previously, at the ITB’s First Graduation Ceremony in October 2017, the French Ambassador to Indonesia and Timor Leste, Jean-Charles Berthonnet, also gave commencement speech for the graduates of ITB. Similarly, the British Ambassador to Indonesia, ASEAN, and Timor Leste, Moazzam Malik, also gave a speech at the ITB’s Second Graduation Ceremony in April 2017.

International Graduates
A day before, on Friday, 6/4/2018, ITB also held a Graduation Ceremony for Postgraduate Students. There are two international students who are graduating amongst the 867 students of Master Programs and Doctor Programs. “There are actually 10 international students who graduated in this period, but only two of them who joined the ceremony. The ten students are from Uganda, Malaysia, Laos, Libya, Nigeria, Czech Republic, and South Korea,” said Samitha Dewi Djajanti, Director of Public Relations and Alumni of ITB.

One of the international graduates is Nakanwagi Orashida from Uganda, who studied Urban and Regional Planning Master Program. “I came here to Indonesia to study in Urban and Regional Planning, and today I graduate. I’m very happy for that,” said Nakanwagi Orashida.

Rashida, her nickname, expresses her gratitude towards people she has met in ITB. “ITB is a good university, especially for my academic experience. I have the chance to meet the best lecturers who are highly knowledgeable in my faculty. They’re very open, approachable, and we can consult them anytime we want, they would also give us direct feedback. They assure us that we fully understand what we’re going to do with our research. I am very thankful for this experience,” she said. Rashida also expresses that she loves Bandung for the people’s friendliness.