Reviving The Letter Tradition, Kemenbud Holds A Writing Competition For Students

JAKARTA - Increasing literacy can not only be done through reading books, but also by providing space for the younger generation to write and imagine.

One of the ways chosen by the government is to hold a letterwriting competition, which is expected to be a means for students to express their ideas, feelings, and appreciations for the nation's heroes.

Minister of Culture (Menbud) Fadli Zon said that in order to support the development of literacy and stimulation, his party presents handwriting competitions for students.

"So the competition for writing letters for heroes, I think this is very important, especially how to stimulate the younger generation because the participants are junior high, high school and college students," said the Minister of Culture at a press conference in Jakarta, Friday.

According to him, writing is one of the effective ways to train imagination and expression power. Therefore, the Ministry of Culture together with the Indonesian Philatelian Association (PFI) and PT POS Indonesia held a 2025 National Letter Writing Competition with the theme "Restrictions for My Heroes" in commemoration of the International Letter Week or World Post Day on October 9.

More than just a competition event, this activity is also aimed at reviving the tradition of writing letters, which are now increasingly rarely done in the digital era. The hope is that the younger generation is used to conveying thoughts, feelings, and hopes through handwriting.

Fadli added that the competition which took place from October 3 to November 3 was also part of a series of celebrations towards Heroes' Day.

Raising the theme of heroism, said Fadli, aims to encourage participants to get to know more about the figure of a hero, admire, as well as emulate the values of their struggle in everyday life.

"At least they read the heroes they admire, the heroes who can inspire and I think this is very important as part of a bridge to understand heroic values that can continue to live in society, especially in the younger generation," he said.

This letter-writing activity is expected to be able to strengthen literacy in Indonesia as well as open up creative spaces for the younger generation to convey messages to the nation's heroes.

The winner of the competition is scheduled to be announced on November 15, 2025. The main requirement for the work is to be handwritten using a black or blue pen with white paper, in Indonesian, and is an original work that has never been published. The manuscript was then sent by post with a valid and valid stamp.

Complete information regarding the terms and conditions of the competition can be accessed through the official website of the correspondence competition.