Personally, I am very proud to say that I am an Indonesian :) Indonesia is very rich with culture and unique traditions. Not only that, we also have picturesque view almost everywhere in the country. The places that offer this kind of view is not only in Bali or may be Borobudur temple. Indonesia still have a lot of beautiful beautiful places that has not been noticed by the international world.
Indonesia (for me) is a great country because we can still unite as a country despite the distance and language barriers (We have around 300 regional language!). People from different social status, age group, and tribes join as one when we speak Bahasa Indonesia. Bhinneka tunggal ika, we are all different but we are still one.
As a nation, we have come so far since our independence day. One by one, slowly but surely, the government is solving crucial problems that are challenging the nation's progress. The government has finally pays off IMF debt in 2006 after the financial crisis in 1998. Even better, we are 'growing steadily towards top 10 economy status'. Recently, FAO awarded Indonesia for having succeeded in reducing hunger in the country from 20% in 1990 to 8.6% in 2012. I am very proud of the government lead by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. I hope that the next president will continue the good work that the current government has done :)
Even though we have made so much progress economically, there are still some things that make me sad. Racism is still can be seen quite clearly in Indonesia. The Chinese-Indonesian and Indonesian-Indonesian still does not mix well sometimes. Harsh comments are still expressed when there is racial difference once in a while. Of course, this problem has become less and less noticeable nowadays if compared to the May 1998 riots times, many people has become more open-minded about this and do not like the idea of discrimination due to racial differences. But I hope that racism can disappear from Indonesia's atmosphere completely. Everyone is Indonesian, speaking one language, Bahasa Indonesia, we all have the same type of ID card with the status 'WNI'. So, why not consider that everyone is the same, all of us are Indonesians. I am aware that racism and discrimination exist everywhere in the world, but hey, what's wrong with hoping and wishing for something good? :) Besides racism, I'm also very sad about the haze problem. This problem has been haunting Indonesia since forever. Sometimes the forest fires are caused by the prolonged dry season, sometimes they are caused by the slash-and-burn system that is still adopted by the locals, and sometimes it is caused by the irresponsible companies with the reason that clearing land using fire is far cheaper and less labour intensive. It is very sad when I read the news about how our neighbouring countries are upset and mock the government because they fail to curb the haze caused by forest-fires. I know that I should not be upset about this, because in any ways, Indonesia is still at fault, the haze comes from Indonesia. However, I am very aware that it is not easy to protect the vast areas of the forests. The government can impose rules, but people can just sneak and burn the forests for various reasons. There is no way we can put guards every several meters in the forest to catch the irresponsible people who caused this problem. This problem is really hard to solve. Illegal burning can happen anytime and we might not know it until the fire has spread. I hope that this haze problem may be solved soon and people become more aware about the damage that forest fires may cause (besides the haze, of course).
Well, I can't be in Indonesia now, but my heart is still there :) I wish Indonesia the best for the country's 68th birthday. I hope that Indonesia can continue to develop and grow as a strong and united nation :D I also hope for the best for the 2014 presidential election, may the best candidate win and lead the country well towards development :)
Happy birthday, Indonesia!!!
Here's a song that really describes my feeling towards Indonesia. Enjoy :)
Sandhy Sandoro - Indonesia Pusaka
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