UNICAS
United Indonesian Canadian
Society
People, Southeast Asian, Advocacy, Asian Heritage
United Indonesian Canadian Society (UNICAS)
The society was founded on 6 March 2004 in Toronto, Ontario by immigrants originating from Indonesia, with the purpose to pro-actively enrich and strengthen the social and cultural fabric of Canadian society, to work in cooperation with other societies and governments and thus gain recognition and support to attain higher goals and sensible ideals.
The objectives of the society are:
- to provide a neutral environment where members can communicate with each other in harmony where they can exchange thoughts and ideas to the enhancement and development of their knowledge;
- to engage in social, cultural and service activities;
- to support and assist the development of economic pursuits, such as trade, commerce, employment opportunities, and other legitimate businesses;
- to work in conjunction with governmental establishments to facilitate the attainment of communal objects; the raising of awareness of 'good citizenship' and the more rapid integration of immigrants into society;
- to recognize and promote the development and delivery of innovative programs, and to coordinate with other similar societies, to work for mutually beneficial ends.
It is a well known fact that after the end of the Second World War, a multitude of people have moved from one country to another. This phenomenon was apparent in Indonesia as well, and its residents are now spread out all over the world. But for whatever reason people may have left their country of origin, it seems that often an emotional bond still exists, a feeling of kinship that drives them together and makes them attend multitudinous gatherings, large and small.
The United Indonesian Canadian
Society, a.k.a. UNICAS, establishment of a neutral, all encompassing,
when successful could be very beneficial to a lot of people.
Circumstances in countries differ, as do people's status in life
and society. Also people's views and opinions are not always
the same. And sometimes because of that their perceptions may
differ as well.
What does the UNICAS logo stand for?
The "bowl" at the bottom of the logo symbolizes the main foundation of our organization which provides a place where members in particular and Indonesian community in GTA in general can congregate and exchange ideas, come to a common conclusion and forge a strong bond amongst us.
The four "flower petals" pouring into the bowl denotes the direction where we came from (East, South, West and North, in other words, from everywhere in this world).
The "black dot" in the bowl is where all the ideas, thoughts, dreams and mutual respect blend together to become the wisdom of this organization. All of those are in the realm of the "bowl". The "red maple leaf" denotes the existence of Canada and its influence.
The basic colour of red and white are coincidently the color of Indonesia and Canada.
Our goal is to make UNICAS a place to meet, as the logo depicts, it is a 'container' or 'wadah' where the Indonesian people from any walks of life, any religion, any Indonesian ethnic group, any age, gather as one group of Indonesians. UNICAS also has members who are non-Indonesian but have a link with Indonesia or Indonesian friends. As a non-profit organization we are here to represent our own structural make-up and to work in cooperation with other societies to serve the community.
UNICAS recognizes the ability to succeed with others, where alone we would fail. We are reminded of our need to belong to something greater than ourselves, which prompt us to reconnect with our individual responsibility to invest our efforts today so we may all have a better tomorrow, in which personal contribution (volunteering) and commitment can bring us to common goals.
Working together with other Indonesian groups and other organizations, will make the Indonesian community stronger and will enable us all to achieve our goals.