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04/13/2005.
Little doubt that there is massive corruption and
irregularities in high places; that the political and
administrative landscape is mired in bad governance;
that, despite with the new reform era, Indonesia is
still essentially living in the old corrupt and hugely
inefficient country. There is scandal after another
with no one essentially being successfully prosecuted.
Those who stole huge amount of resources are free
while petty thefts are treated harshly and put in
jail.
Almost all the social systems that should make social
life run smoothly and equitably have eroded. In our
schools, children are being surrounded by incompetent
bureaucrats, inadequate infrastructure and too few
teachers. Too many of our teachers have themselves
been taught by people who had little resources and
capacity of teaching, and they are now passing on
their bad habits to another generation. In private
businesses the work ethics is often missing, and the
moral ethics of the big business people are often too
low which had helped bringing about the financial
crisis in the 90s. Our politicians are still trying to
politicize religions and make the latter much less
constructive in promoting morally capable individuals.
Our streets are not safe as the number of young people
who are jobless is steadily increasing, inducing crime
rates. And with new challenges of the recent natural
tragedies, which are among the worst in the modern
history, we hardly can expect a worse situation than
what we have today. Which brings us to a question:
will there be any improvement in the years to come?
But first, have we made a deal with the devil? Or, do
we still want to fight against the devil of our time?
I do believe that our true enemy is not people, but
rather they are depraved conditions and morally
bankrupt mindset. Two examples of the latter are the
mindset that tends to believe that the solution to our
problem is in other people’s hand, and that all
solutions to our country’s problem are in the hand of
the government.
It’s reasonable to believe that there are many who
want to stop corruption and bad governance, and there
are also many who want to help others and who have
desire that religion is ought to be one of the
backbones of moral education. But “want” as a passive
desire and “want” as an active will are two completely
different notions. It is not enough to want a better
Indonesia. The “want” demands concrete and correct
actions.
We must start realizing that the solutions to bring
bad governance and corruption to an end as well as the
solutions to our other social problems are efforts
that must come from us individual citizens and us
individual role models. We must not think of it as
someone else's business to solve, and we must not
think of it as the exclusive government’s business to
take care.
I often ask myself these questions: Where do we go
from here? How do we press the brakes and change
direction? I have no solution but we need re-training
and re-orientation in almost every field and at almost
every level. In so many areas there is an urgent need
to break the cycle of poorly managed resources and
poorly educated people. Our country urgently needs a
large injection of rigorous training, a vigorous work
ethic, and a strong injection of positive attitude.
We human beings learn by example. Sadly, though, we
have reached the point where very, very few
outstanding role models remain whether in education,
sport, politics, business, and almost in every aspect
of our lives. We hardly have role models that will
give inspiration to others, especially to the young
generations. And so, mediocrity rules.
To lift standards, we need to bring in an army of
morally and intellectually capable volunteers and also
the well experienced ones to share with the country’s
current and future generations of the benefits of
having ethics, hard work, and constructive attitude in
life. And also let those who can provide other means
channel their resources to help others who are in
desperate need of assistance to advance in their
lives.
As I read the way the late Pope John Paul II helped
brought about the change in Poland in the 1980s, I was
struck by the fact he had made an almost impossibility
become possible through a gentle and positive
attitude. He has taught me a lesson that I have never
found in my entire education: be true to moral and
gentle approach, and be steadfast in contributing to
the improvement of your society.
To promote a better Indonesia requires a simple and
yet giant step: for the morally, intellectually, as
well as the well-experienced individuals to actively
participate in the endeavor whether through voluntary
works or through their regular jobs.
This summer, I’ll be going home and plan to give
voluntary discussions at two high schools at my
hometown. The purpose is to inculcate good values to
the students and stimulate their mind so that they
focus on positive attitude and be competitive in their
schools and lives. Last year I gave a similar
discussion for fresh graduate students at the School
of Management, IPPM, in Jakarta. It might not have any
impact yet, but if more Indonesians openly discuss and
share their positive attitude as well as their
optimism about the future of the country, it will
inevitably bring positive impact. It might take a
decade to see the results, but for that to happen, the
first step must be set in motion. After all, when the
late Pope John Paul II said to the young Polishs in
1979, “be not afraid”, it took more than a decade for
them to witness what it really means.
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