This article was published by The Jakarta Post on August 15, 2008 as part of a special report celebrating Indonesia’s 63^rd Independence Anniversary. Read the article on The Jakarta Post, here.

I’m a proud young Indonesian who spent almost 16 years in Indonesia’s education system. I studied Indonesian history, its values and Pancasila. But if you ask me what Indonesia’s 63rd anniversary of independence means my answer will probably be, “I don’t know.”

I’m not proud of having such a notion but I don’t think I should feel guilty because many of my young friends have the same impression of this celebration. Some even say, “I don’t know and I don’t care.” Yes, they don’t care.

For many young Indonesians, including me when I was in school, the anniversary of our country’s independence only means another boring flag ceremony. Some may like the ceremony but that’s only because they can skip class.

Have we really lost the true meaning behind the most important celebration of our country? Can we blame the older generation for not encouraging the younger generation to love our country more?

What does it really mean to be 63 years old, anyway? What should the government do to energize the people and make them appreciate their country a little bit more?

There are so many questions to answer. But we don’t have much time to answer them because while we are puzzling over these questions, other nations are racing to improve.

Those of you who watched the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games know exactly what I mean. I’m sure you were as amazed as I was to witness the best opening ceremony in the history of the Games from a country whose primary mode of transportation 20 years ago was the bicycle.

It was, without any doubt, China’s moment to show the world how great they have become. It may have been coincidental that China’s opening ceremony was less than two weeks from our national independence celebration but it certainly made our celebration seem so less important. It probably struck all of us while watching China’s drummers’ magnificent performance: “What do we have to celebrate on the anniversary of our national independence?”

My teachers in school used to tell me that our independence was fought and won with blood and tears by our grandfathers and grandmothers. And I know exactly what that means because I have two examples from my family.

It’s a remarkable coincidence that both my grandfathers served in the Army and fought the occupying forces. Both received Bintang Gerilya which is one of the highest awards the Indonesian government gives its citizens. Amazingly, they both passed away on Aug. 17 and now rest peacefully at Makam Taman Pahlawan (National Heroes Cemetery).

It’s unfortunate that I never met my paternal grandfather; he died when my father was still young. But I was very close to my maternal grandfather. In fact, he was the first person to teach me English. He was a humble and a very loving person who just wanted simple things in his life. Sometimes he would tell me stories of how he fought in the jungle during the war. He said making his family happy and giving them freedom had been his ultimate reasons to join the war.

The lesson from today’s trend and my grandfather is that we have a different enemy but we have the same purpose. We don’t need to fight a war against an occupying force but we do have another kind of enemy we need to fight. We have to fight against the problems in our economy and education and health systems. But we still have the same purpose that was once used by our grandfathers and grandmothers — to enable our families to have a better place to live.

Indonesia’s 63rd anniversary should be a reminder to all young Indonesians that our time is getting closer and closer. In less than 10 years some of us will have the chance to lead this country and its people.

It’s very painful for me as a young Indonesian to see how other nations can be so great and advanced. It’s painful to know people in other countries can live so prosperously while we see beggars at every traffic light in Jakarta.

After 63 years of independence, it is not a comfortable fact that we can’t smile big yet. The statistics shows we are still left behind. But that should not be our excuse to stop trying to make this country a better place for all of us.

The world is moving into a knowledge-based society, and the challenges we face in the future will be greater. To be the best, our natural resources will no longer give us the ultimate advantage. What we need is to be smarter and have more knowledge. The question now is, “Are we ready to capture it?”

What we can learn from new emerging countries such as China and India is no matter how poor and inexperienced you are, there is always a chance to be better if you have a strong motivation to work hard and make your dreams come true.

And to all those young pessimistic Indonesians I tell you this: “If those countries can do it, of course we can do it better!”

This article was published by The Jakarta Post on May 19, 2008 as part of a special report celebrating Indonesia’s 100^th Year of National Awakening. Read the article on The Jakarta Post, here.

It’s not easy to be a young Indonesian. The challenges are great and tough. Some of you might wish that you had been born in an advanced country like America or Japan so that you wouldn’t have to witness the poor crying for food every single day.

It’s the burden that I have to carry. A burden that you, your friends, and any other young Indonesian have to carry. It’s the burden that our founding fathers wanted us to carry.

It’s what young Indonesians have been pressured to do: To make a big change to our society.

Some say that a country’s greatness depends on its young people. Some say that it’s always the young people who make the great changes to one society. They say that the young people are the ones with a great motivation and energy. They are the brave and the optimistic ones. They’re the ones who dare to fight against injustice.

In 1908, several young Indonesian intellectuals living in The Netherlands established the first Indonesian political organization called Budi Utomo*. This organization was probably the first group of young Indonesians who felt the urgency to spread the spirit of nationalism throughout the country. Their efforts proved to be revolutionary.

Ninety years later it was the young Indonesians who fought and stood up against the dictatorship. The 1998 movement resulted one word that would be part of our daily conversation and lives for the next several years, and that word was reformasi. The young Indonesians were praised at that time for their courage.

But ten years after reformasi and a hundred years after Budi Utomo, it is sad to know that I see more pessimism than optimism among the young Indonesians. Everywhere I go I meet young Indonesians who think that there’s nothing we can do to Indonesia. They simply say, “It’s Indonesia, what can you expect?”

When they gather there’s this one kind of joke they always love to use: A joke of how stupid Indonesians are or how ridiculous our culture is. They say that Indonesian values are so old fashioned and not adaptable to the current condition.

When I was in Jakarta for six years it was hard for me to find young Indonesians who were proud of being Indonesians. Yes they claimed that they lived in Indonesia and that they were Indonesians, but at the same time they admitted that there was a little bit of shame inside their hearts for being part of Indonesia.

Most young Indonesians I know think that Indonesia is so corrupt and the whole system is just flawed. Everyday they read news about how their government officials are accused for being dishonest and disloyal to people.

It should be noted by everyone that our young people’s frustration is something real and should be taken seriously. Some of them travel around the world to see how other nations managed so well in developing their people and countries. And when they come back all they can see is how the country they call home looks hopeless and helpless.

It’s indeed hard to have another Budi Utomo that this country once enjoyed. The circumstances and energy are different. But I think there’s still a hope.

Although there’s a strong tendency of pessimism among our young Indonesians but at the same time I see there are a lot of young Indonesians who share the same energy that our founding fathers had in the past. Unfortunately, they are not exposed by the media.

The spirit of 100^th Year of National Awakening should be used as a moment for those young Indonesians who still care about the dream that our founding fathers had to remind others that we still have a hope.

Young Indonesians have to learn how Budi Utomo and its founders could manage to “burn” this country with the spirit of nationalism and unite the young Indonesians: They could face a very difficult time and challenges, and they succeeded.

Although the problems are not the same, but essentially we are having the same problems that Budi Utomo once had to fight: Young Indonesians are not united, the economy is not in a very good condition, and too much of Western influence within our young Indonesians.

I know it’s hard to make changes. I know it’s hard to make good changes when your environment is not supporting. And I know it’s hard to make great changes when everything seems to be so imperfect. But, no one is perfect and you don’t have to be good to do good things.

Let us all be the change that we want to see in Indonesia and let’s start it right now. Let’s carry the burden that our founding fathers wanted us to carry, not just because we love our government or because our politicians tell us so.

Let’s carry it in the name of our Indonesian parents, grandparents, brothers and sister, families, and friends. Let’s carry it for all those people who love us for being born in this beautiful paradise called Indonesia.

*By this I mean, “Young Indonesians who had lived and were still living in the Netherlands finally established Budi Utomo in 1908.” I regret this confusion.

The picture above taken from President SBY’s website.