17 October 2013 Last updated at 00:16 GMT
By Karishma Vaswani, BBC News, Jakarta
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| Ms Marcella spent a year in rural Indonesia, teaching underprivileged children |
Ask Pingkan Irwin what she will be doing on any given Saturday night and her answer is likely to surprise you.
Unlike many of her contemporaries, the 28-year-old is not heading out for a night on the town.
Instead, this digital marketing strategist is most likely to be found representing the democracy advocacy group she helped to set up, Ayo Vote!, at a trendy Jakarta venue.
Ms Pingkan and another friend set up Ayo Vote! - which is Indonesian for "Let's Vote" - in 2010.
They felt that young Indonesians seemed politically apathetic, but believed that this stemmed in a large part from ignorance.
Comfortable lives
"Indonesia's younger generation, of which I'm a part, is pretty complacent because in the cities at least, our lives are pretty comfortable right now," she said.
"A lot of the time my friends tell me that it doesn't matter whether I vote or not, politicians are all corrupt anyway."
Ms Pingkan felt one of the main reasons why young Indonesians weren't getting involved in politics was because they didn't really know what their rights were or what a functional democracy actually looked like, despite the country's relatively recent transition to democracy.
"We are basically offering a course in Politics 101 to young voters," she said. "That's why we've set up our website and kicked off this campaign."
In Asia, Indonesia stands out as one of the youngest and newest democracies. Fifteen years ago, it was young Indonesians who led the revolution that transformed the country from a dictatorship into the bustling democracy it is now.
Indonesia is a remarkably young society, with some estimates saying as much as two-thirds of the population is under 30. That's a significant proportion of the electorate - and political parties are keen to harness their voting power.
But many young Indonesians say they are increasingly jaded. They complain that they are fed up with politics and despair of what appear to be rising levels of corruption at every tier of government.
Ms Pingkan, however, is not the only one trying to make a difference.
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| Muhammad Iman works for an organisation that seeks to empower women |
Muhammad Iman Usman is also currently working for YCAB - a non-profit group which promotes economic empowerment for women in Indonesia and beyond. He's responsible for raising funds in the US for the organisation.
"There are a lot of young people who are doing a lot of exciting things in Indonesia these days to help our community - we just need to create spaces for them to get involved," Mr Muhammad said.
"We can't afford to do nothing. The reality is that many politicians in Indonesia are corrupt, but we can't neglect the fact that politics is also an important element in how we live. So we need to get involved and prepare the younger generation for when we are in charge."
Marcella Chandra Wijayanti is another person trying to get involved. Eschewing the comforts of corporate life, she spent a year in rural Indonesia, teaching underprivileged children in a programme run by the Teach Indonesia movement, Gerakan Indonesia Mengajar.
"When I told my parents and friends that I was going to Rote Ndao in East Nusa Tenggara, they were shocked. Some had never heard of the place before. It's a tiny island, and I'm a city girl!" the 25-year-old laughed.
"I graduated as an economics student - I should have been a banker or in finance. But I saw this as a way to pay back to my nation. I was lucky to have a good education, but there are hundreds of thousands of Indonesian children who don't have these opportunities simply because of where they are born."
Ms Marcella spent a year in the tiny island community of Rote Ndao, teaching fifth graders and their teachers how to implement the national curriculum properly.
"Only 2% of the teachers on the island where I was teaching had graduated from university. That means the majority of teachers were all high school leavers!" she said, still incredulous two years on.
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| Yoga Dirga Cahya gave up a cushy job to stand in next year's elections |
Dirty politics?
The experience profoundly changed Ms Marcella view of her future career path.
"I always thought I'd end up in the corporate world. After I finished my stint there though, I joined the Education and Culture Ministry, and my plan is to get a masters in public policy next year. If we youngsters don't help our own country, who will?"
That's the same motivation that led Yoga Dirga Cahya to give up a cushy job in Singapore's National Environment Agency and enter politics to try and win a seat in next year's parliamentary elections.
The 26-year-old is running for a seat that covers central and south Jakarta, and overseas voters.
"I don't believe politics is dirty," he said via telephone from Hong Kong, where he is spreading his message to migrant Indonesian workers. "It's only dirty because the people inside are dirty. If you really want to make a change, then you have to do it from the inside."
Having lived in Singapore for nine years, Mr Yoga said he saw the plight of Indonesian migrant workers - in particular maids - first-hand.
"I remember telling my local parliamentarians in Jakarta about their misfortunes, but it fell on deaf ears", he said.
"So I decided to get involved. Some people may think being young or not politically connected is disadvantageous, but it means I'm free from the past and money politics. It means I can start from a clean slate."
But given the fact that the Indonesian parliament has such a bad reputation, is he worried his foray into this field could taint his values?
"Sure I worry about that, but we as young people can't stay away from the political world," he said. "Then only bad politicians will join the system."
"We need young Indonesians to engage and run the show so that it won't just be the old faces that keep being the only options for us to choose from."
Taken from HERE.
I agree with Yoga Dirga Cahya for what he said about No Politics is Dirty. Because its true that the reason that people consider politic is dirty, is due to its participants that use political influence to satify their greed. And in order to stop that, we as a younger generation should join politics, but before they join, we should implement their minds with honesty, dignity, and integrity. Because nowadays, every people who participate in politics, they don’t have any honesty nor integrity. And sometimes, because they lack of honesty and integrity, they often corrupt the money and power that they own for their own good. Thus, their actions often bring loss to the society. And also, when the media discover it, making other people or society consider politics dirty. To implement dignity, honesty and integrity to any future generations, is that we have to teach them the importance and the advantage of being a trustworthy person. And I guess that is all.
ReplyDeleteIt is very heartwarming to know that there are some youngsters out there are aspired to make a change and bring Indonesia to be better state. Different country has different problems to priorities and after I came back to Indonesia, I realized that the country’s biggest problem is corruption. Indonesia is ranked as the 118th most corrupted country in the world and I feel that due to this fact, there is a very low level of trust between Indonesian citizen and the government. As such, without trust, it would be hard for the governor to execute plans for the country, making it difficult for the country to prosper.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with Miss Pingkan that the main reasons why young Indonesians weren't getting involved in politics was because they didn't really know what their rights were or what a functional democracy actually looked like. I feel that by not knowing, restricts one’s freedom to a large extent. They would not know that ‘the right to vote’ which is the right for them to choose leaders who would not corrupt is part of their human rights. Therefore I think it is important to first educate children in Indonesia, to make them realize how free they can be.
I also feel that it is fantastic that these youngsters really want to make a difference in the political system. Hopefully this can erase the corrupting culture in Indonesia and enable this country to be the strongest in Asia!
As I see it, there are many types of people concerning politics. In Indonesia, there are citizens who completely neglect the political scene, there are people who are concerned but choose to do nothing about it. Last, there are people who are proactive and would do anything to achieve a better living space.
ReplyDeleteIn one’s opinion, people neglects the political situation in their country because they think politic is down right boring. They don’t believe in the ideology of the system. Or they think that it’s too hard to change its policies then why do they even bother to try and because they simply are not familiar with political ways. However there are passionate people like the four inspiring people on the article that go outside their comfort zone in order to make differences. They must show leadership while demonstrating integrity, striving for excellence and enjoying participation. I’m proud of these people who contribute their time to carry out our generation’s duty. And I hope that we could follow their steps.
The thing about the current politic system is that the person who have more money, gain more power. It seems that everything can be bought. And that needs to change. We choose not to vote, but when a lousy politician is elected, all we could do is nag about it. To avoid that, we should use our rights to vote but first we must know the potential and dedication of the candidates. It’s not easy to save our country from bad politicians, but it’s better to try resolving the matter rather than doing nothing at all.
As we know that politics usually following by old people who have ambition to become a leader. So, I really appreciate to those young people to decided get involved to politics live. Because we know that politics have many problem on it, especially in Indonesia. Politics in here is near to the corruption. It will hard to change it, but 4 people above are be brave trying to change Indonesian's politics. I think that is true, if not young generation will fix it, who else?
ReplyDeleteSomeone said that young generation do not be afraid to get involve to politics live because nowadays it needs high quality young people. We exactly know that politics live have many challenge things that we have to face when we decided to get in to politics. Also, we need to struggled for shake of kindliness. But, we have to realized if we do not do it, politics will filled by badness. Moreover, Indonesia is democration country. It means that everyone can say their opinion. This should be applied to young generation.
Overall, I think only young generation who can change Indonesian's future. We need to show off. Started with following their steps to get involve to the politics live.
Nowadays we need a young people in politics to change the politics world that is dominating by the old people who wants the power to rule the country. Not for disrespect to the old people but I think young people can provide a new and fresh idea to our country. With a fresh idea I’m sure our country can growth even stronger look at joko widodo the governor of Jakarta with his vice governor basuki tjahaja purnama they both change Jakarta into a modern and heritage city and try to solve the city problems with their new and fresh idea or barack Obama the president of united states change America into a friendly country. In a past mostafa Kemal pasha change turkey into a modern Islamic country and nowadays become an important country in the world because he combine an Islamic rule with a freedom like a west country so a young people always come with a good idea that can change the country rapidly
ReplyDeleteAs an Indonesian myself, it is definitely good to know that some of my peers actually care about the future of politics in Indonesia. Since Indonesia is now a democracy, there should be a continuous supply of leaders and politicians to ensure the wheel of democracy keeps on rolling. Nevertheless, I am not at all interested in politics (at least until I reach 30 – who knows what will happen next?). Although it is probably a cliché to say that politics is dirty, I do believe that Indonesian politics is still inherently dirty, if not filthy. However, this is perhaps due to the democracy in Indonesia still being in its infancy. Just like how a baby tries to scoop his meal without dropping any onto his napkin, Indonesians are also still learning their way to an ideal form of democracy.
ReplyDeleteThe recent emergence of young Indonesians into political foray is certainly a welcome fresh air of change. As the saying goes, it is very hard to teach old dogs a new trick. If people want revolutionary change from the politicians, then they should not expect them to come from the current politicians, who mostly started their jobs during the era of Suharto’s dictatorship. Instead, people should start looking from the current crop of potential young politicians who share the same ideas with them. If that comes into realisation, then we can start packing our bags to move into new and exciting, albeit uncharted, territories.
When I came to Indonesia I didn’t know that the country is struggling with the political situation. I was never exposed to a corrupt government. I find it very pleasant to read that the younger generation of Indonesia is trying to make a change. Though you cannot expect this change to go rapidly. It took the west so long to become absolute democratic as it is these days, so we cannot expect Indonesia to do it so much faster. It is a process that needs a lot of time to be fulfilled.
ReplyDeleteIndonesia can use more people with the drive force Ms Pingkan has. Every youngster should know their rights in order to be able to make this change. "We need young Indonesians to engage and run the show so that it won't just be the old faces that keep being the only options for us to choose from." I believe that this men is right and that the young Indonesians should be involved in politics.
I’m happy and proud to know that there is still many young generation that actually care about Indonesia politics and willing to make a change. Nowadays people are very expose about the political condition in Indonesia whether is good or bad, this make Indonesian people more concern about Indonesia political condition but more people are expose with bad political news such as scandal and corruption and that makes people starts to lose their faith in this country . Knowing that young politician are starting to appeared to help this country can be a light of hope for people in Indonesia that this country still has people that care about this country and still want to fight for this country.
ReplyDeleteIt is good to hear that young generation still want to make a change for the good of the country like young people back then when they fight for this country but I hope not only young generation that can make a change, older people that already make a change must also keep their faith and spirit to fight
I am very happy to know that there are many people who dare to get involved to politics. Because these days, we sure can see that all the people, young people especially, seem to ignore politics. When I asked people what they know about the politics, they simply saying that they don’t know and don’t care about it. And for the others, they say that politics are so bad. They don’t want to get involved on it, and it’s just a waste of time to keep tracking at it. To look that many young people are care about it, it makes me proud. These young people have the braveness to be different and take the risk to involve in politics. We can see many young people keep saying that how bad politic is and how they are worry about it but do nothing at all. The awareness in among the young people is very low. We must do something in order to make a better change. Small things can make a big effect. For example: vote. Use our rights as a citizen properly. It may look countless in our eyes because we have only one voice. But one voice is enough to make the different. We might not see the result right now but if we keep involve with politics, and in a right way, we sure can change the Indonesian politic.
ReplyDeleteAs a young generation in Indonesia, I feel surprised that there are some people who hasn’t feel discouraged to try to fix our country. Truthfully, I think that when we talk about political change I’ll feel discouraged to enter our political system. I think that as of right now in my mind, Indonesia political world is dirty with corruption and political dynasty happening. For our education system, I agree that in many small islands the school teacher doesn’t have the same degree qualification as the school teacher in big cities. I think what Marcella did is really noble by willing to go to those small island and teaches there even though she’s an economic student graduate and already have a comfortable corporate life. Not many people willing to sacrifice and leave their comfortable life in order to help others who need them, and to know that there are still people who have the decency to help others and works toward a better Indonesia for the future is really heartwarming and it makes me question myself about what I want for my future, can I be like them? Or am I just gonna live my life without thinking about our country problems.
ReplyDeleteIt is true that we need some teenagers who can play a deep role in politic. The reason is because Indonesia needs to preserve their 'democratic' culture which will slowly diminish if none of the young generation started to do so. Now, from my point of view, the reason of many teenagers who state themselves as a neutral party in an election is because they don't get the effect of the election itself. Much of the candidates only provide some serious commitment which is not serious enough for teenagers especially in the improvement of their education. What I mean by improvement in their education is that every time the reign changes, the education still at stagnant condition like damaged classes, expensive books, even some students completely halt their study just because of lack of funds and government's incentive is still nowhere to be found. This opinion is just a small reason why teens tend to be neutral in an election, and I hope that it could be considered by the government so they could establish a bridge between teenagers and political world.
ReplyDeleteThey’re really inspiring because they strive to make a change, very few young people strive for a change. I agree that young Indonesians seem politically apathetic because this stemmed in a large part from ignorance or because most city kids are born in comfortable lives, we are the ones who are lucky enough to get a high education yet we don’t really know how important it is to make a change/ contribute to the society. It may be caused by the condition of big cities nowadays. We only go to college, hang out with friends, the cities are big already, we don’t explore Indonesia enough so we don’t really know that there is still a lot of cities and islands that need a big change. I think ‘Ayo Vote!’ is really cool. Ms. Pingkan Irwin conducts ‘Ayo Vote!’ at a trendy Jakarta venue, She knew how young people’s lifestyle is so she chose that place. It might influence the young people a lot to get involved in politics, at least they would be interested to gain more knowledge about politics, the importance of voting, their rights to speak, and knowing that every single voice counts. Yes, politicians are corrupt but it will be a regeneration that gives our generation a chance to make a change. So, we need to educate our generation in order to prepare them for a clean system of politics. There are also cool things young people strive for other than politics. Example: Indonesia Mengajar. It was founded by Anies Baswedan, an alumni of FEB UGM (look how proud I am! And I’m such a big fan of him). For further stories and information, you can google it. Someday I want to one of Indonesia Mengajar teachers or at least I want to do something that makes a high impact on society. It doesn’t have to be politics, but it can education, health, eradicating poverty, etc.
ReplyDelete“If we youngsters don't help our own country, who will?" This quotation, which Ms Marcella said, really inspire me. Who will be in charge in the future? Youngsters! As a future leader of this nation, I think youngsters have to start getting involved in politics,education, and other nation’s primary sectors.
ReplyDeleteI would support Ms Pingkan with her “Ayo Vote!” group and Mr Muhammad with his “YCAB” group. Youngsters’ politic participation, i think, is something vital for one nation. So, I really appreciate these non-profit groups and hope they can continue their job.
Beside the groups, what Mr Yoga did is a really brave movement. He enters Indonesian politics, and want to change it from the inside. This movement will be very effective to change the image of Indonesian politics these days, from “Politics is dirty” to “Politics is essential, and we have to participate in it”.
Another prime sector of a nation that Ms Marcella has involved in is the education. She was under the “Gerakan Indonesia Mengajar”, which is now really trending in Indonesia. I saw this movement is really useful for future Indonesia, because education shapes what we will be i n the future. If we want a better Indonesia, we should fix the education problems, and I think “Gerakan Indonesia Mengajar” is doing it.
In conclusion, I really appreciate and support all of the youngsters in this article. They are broad-minded and nationalistic. I hope a better Indonesia in the future, under the name of us, youngsters.
I’m totally agreed with Wildan. As Indonesian youngsters, we have a big role towards this country. And I realized that I’m not a type of youngsters that really care about political world in our country. But after I read this article, I finally realized that we have a big role. Because I think that Indonesia political world is dirty with corruption, collusion, and nepotism. Whenever I watch television, many news talks about politician that involved with corruption and many more. Their attitude make us disrespect towards the political world in Indonesia. So just like what Ms Marcella said, if we youngsters don't help our own country, who will?
DeleteAs an Indonesian youngster, I really appreciate those statements and actions. I think they are really smart and have pristine views to future politic in Indonesia. And as an Indonesian youngster, I think we, as a good Indonesia citizen, should follow their path. Although maybe we will do it in different ways, we can take example from their action. Like Ms. Marcella did, Gerakan Indonesia Mengajar, I think it is very good to be implemented in our life because from education, we can arrange what Indonesian youngster will do for future. We have to implant the value of education, especially for kids, so they will know what is right, what is wrong, and what should they do. We know that nowadays, like Yoga said, politics is dirty. But it’s because the people inside are dirty. So from education, people will learn that we can’t avoid politics from our daily life, even though it’s dirty. And from education, people will think how to make a change and how to clean the dirtiness. And as an educated people, we have to think that being an apathetic is not the way. Silence is gold, but is gold come freely from silence? If we realized that Indonesian politics should change, let’s make an action. Make our nation proud of us.
ReplyDeleteMy dream is become diplomat so it is still in politics area. When I talk about it with my friend, she talks to me ‘why you want to join that dirty politics? It is hard to not effected and cannot being idealist in there.’ I know what she said is the truth, however, at the same time I also think, if it is not us who join politics and make it better, who will do that? We cannot agree that those people who want to corrupt join Indonesian’s political system.
ReplyDelete"I don't believe politics is dirty, It's only dirty because the people inside are dirty. If you really want to make a change, then you have to do it from the inside,” Yoga Dirga Cahya also state it when –if I do not wrong- he become one of the speakers in Indonesian Youth Conference. I very agree with that statement, the people inside the politics are dirty because of that we must join and make a change in it. I believe there are still many young people who still have dreams to change and make a better Indonesia.
This article reminds me of John F. Kennedy’s famous quote, “ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” I think it really suits the situation which is happening in Indonesia right now. What have been done by the youngsters above is incredibly cool. It’s not easy to waste most of your time doing something good for the sake of your country. They have guts to get out of your comfort zone and do something for some people you don’t know.
ReplyDeleteThey are good role models for Indonesian youngsters right now. What they did, giving inspiration to many Indonesian youngsters. They’re really optimistic with the future of Indonesia. What I often find, many youngsters are pessimistic with the future of Indonesia. They keep saying that corruption will always exist in Indonesia. But, knowing the passion of these youngsters above, I believe that we, as the young generation, will build this country and I’m sure that Indonesia will be better in our hands.
I totally agree with you, Astri. I think, we, the young Indonesians which would carry the burden of the previous generations need to be brave and act on our thoughts if we want to change our future. Just watching our country consumed by dirty politics or corruption obviously will not help; in fact, that just mean you do not recognise Indonesia as your country, you give the responsibility to other Indonesians, giving up on taking care of our beloved country. This act symbolises the arrogance of the natives of Indonesia, they care so much about their own self that they even contaminate Indonesia with bribes and corruption if it gets in the way. It is a shame to see these things happen in reality. This is why we need to learn on how to discriminate the bad from the good. However, not just acknowledging it, the next generation of Indonesia, by other means, us, need to act based on that and free ourselves of such dirty politics as well as showing dignity to others.
DeleteOza
In this article, I found a statement that young Indonesians seemed politically apathetic. The young generation assumed that the condition of this country wouldn’t change even if they gave their aspiration. They didn’t care about this country because they had a comfortable life. A comfortable life caused a static movement. The young generation wouldn’t change their position, got a stuck in the comfort zone. They thought that’s impossible to save this country from corruption, poverty, social inequality, and another problem. I knew to save Indonesia we should accumulate the power from the young generation. Don’t worry, we also found a lot of young Indonesians gave intention for this country. They showed it with the different way such as joined an organization non - profit to help others, involved in the education program, or made an achievement. We couldn’t neglect the politics of this nation. We should get involved and make it better. That’s our responsibility as a young Indonesians.
ReplyDeleteI agree with most argument at the article. As youth generation, we need to involve in politics. Take a look in history, 1998 reformation for example. The youth used their political power to press the goverment to resign. Nowadays, look at the parliement. They have power to make decision and public law, and bargaining power to executive decision. The power of politics is so great.
ReplyDeleteEvery day we ask for changes and public reform. I think this is the way to do it. You may have the social power, but you won't easily do that without political power. The politic give fores to people to to that.
We know, most of us, the youth generation, didn't want to take a role in politics. We're being apatethic and thinking that politics are dirty, corrupt, etc, based on negative news we saw everyday. If we always think like this, then the politicians of Indonesia would just filled by greedy person. We need the people, especially youth generation, to take a political role and make right decision.
I’m happy to see that there are still some youth people who still care about politics in Indonesia. Indonesia needs lot of youth who want to involve in politics, because the future of Indonesia depends on now-youth generation. As youth generation, we should realize the power of politics, learn good politics, and then involve in politics, so we will able to make Indonesia better in the future.
I agree with the statement by Muhammad Iman Usman, "We can't afford to do nothing. The reality is that many politicians in Indonesia are corrupt, but we can't neglect the fact that politics is also an important element in how we live. So we need to get involved and prepare the younger generation for when we are in charge."
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to know that there are still many youngsters who are care towards the political change in Indonesia. Even though as a youngster, I haven't done anything yet to change the politic situation except voting in the election. So sad that my hometown held an election to choose the mayor but I couldn't participate due my college life here in Yogyakarta. People are lazy to vote in the election because they think all of the politicians still corrupt, anyway, just like Pingkan Irwin said, "a lot of the time my friends tell me that it doesn't matter whether I vote or not, politicians are all corrupt anyway."
But I think, if we don't choose the person we trust, then it's just as same as we let the bad politicians win the election because they bribe to other people to make them win.
“If we youngsters don't help our own country, who will?" I am very angry with what Ms Marcella said, youngsters is the next generation that will drive this country, so if each youngster just think about there future plan, so who will lead this country to success? To be honest, what is really happen in Indonesia is there is many corruptions, bribery, and bad actions that is perform by the government, we youngsters come as a generation to revise this condition and make Indonesia as a good and clean country. There are many actions that should be perform to improve the feel of nationalism and love to our country, first, government should make a regulation that arrange student to get a better education about citizenship and nationalism, second, we should dumb our culture to cheat, plagiarism is also form of cheating, so if we as a youngsters do plagiarism, it is possible for us to do corruptions and any other bad thing. What we should do now is to grow our nationalism feel and stay away from bad action, I hope tomorrow when my generation drive this country, this country could be a modern country without corruption and other bad actions.
ReplyDeleteWell , talk about the political change for teenagers , I will give us an example refer to Ghana , how they make their political change ? below , I will give my explanation supported by some article refer to it .
ReplyDeleteThe Convention People’s Party (CPP) at the weekend called on Nkrumaists to heed what it called 'the clarion cry' of Ghanaians for a political change in 2008.
'We must unite to eliminate tendencies that militate against national unity and development.
'The bad governance and mismanagement of national resources by the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) has plunged the country into poverty, hunger, injustice and unemployment among other forms of hardship and our people are yearning for a change,' Dr Edmund Delle, CPP National Chairman and Leader, said at Koforidua.
He was addressing supporters of the party including leading members of 'The Patriots' a group within the party who had thronged the Koforidua KAMA conference hall for the official opening of the refurbished CPP Eastern regional secretariat.
He said Ghanaians had been living together as one people with a common destiny but the 'ethnic politics' of the NPP and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) had divided the country.
Dr Delle called on Ghanaians to vote for the CPP in the up-coming election to unseat the NPP to ensure national unity, peace and harmony as well as effective management of the country’s economy.
He said the CPP was the only 'truly nationalistic' party capable of uniting the country for economic development, stressing, 'Within the CPP there are no social, educational, tribal status or classes. We are all 'comrades' irrespective of ones social standing.'
On the initial antagonism among leading members of The Patriots and party’s national executives, Dr Delle said, 'that belongs to the history books...We are united forever, never again would we allow our front to be divided'.
Ben, if your plan is to post plagiarized material, it's not going to work. Please stop before this turns into a very serious matter.
Deletehttp://ghanawebnews.blogspot.com/2007/03/ghanaians-are-yearning-for-change-cpp.html
It’s really great to know that there are some youngsters want to make a change in Indonesian politics. I think it’s time to clean Indonesia from corruption. I agree with Yoga Dirga Cahya’s statement that politics is not dirty, but people inside are. I’ve watched it since my two uncles and my father used to be in politics. People are doing anything to get power. The previous governor of my Province was corrupting. Many people in Indonesia, especially politicians, are jailed because of corrupting. I think it’s time for us; young generations to bring Indonesia back to the right way. I agree with Ms Pingkan, the main reasons why young Indonesians weren't getting involved in politics was because they didn't really know what their rights were. I think there’s already a big statement about government that all of them are corrupting. I don’t really know whether all of politicians are doing corrupt or not; but, as young generations, we must be more care about our country. We have to vote because our votes are important for our country.
ReplyDeleteIt is just amazing really, to know that people out there that are considered as young, or I may personally say, young adults, strives to give back to our nation with such hope, determination, passion, and integrity. It is quite surprising to see them sprouting from beneath such an environment that is somehow “dirty” in many ways and where many people especially youngster simply subject to and turn a blind eye.
ReplyDeleteFormer President of The United States of America, JFK once said “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country” and I do believe that this is not only meant for people who are in the parliament, but it is meant for each and every individual that holds citizenship to give contribution in making their own nation into a better one. Indonesia is a country that is said to have democracy as the form of government, where democracy comes from the Greek word “demos” which means people and “kratos” which means power or rule, thus obviously stating “power/rule of the people.” Who else, but the people of Indonesia, especially the so-called “young, pure, and clean saplings” that can turn the situation around?
Although it is uplifting, we still need to see the reality, how things really work out there. The journey of those who try to mend this, sorry to say, dysfunctional and heavily corrupted nation will not be easy at all as those who still hold the current seat as “rulers” of this nation who are, sadly, not the people, will obviously try to do their best to preserve and secure their position by using any means necessary. The pressure also comes from the supporters, as people are now fed up with all the corruption, nepotism, and such. People start to lose their trust as they feel that there is no one that is worthy to be trusted anymore in that “world.”
Many youngsters are also oblivious to the importance of political aspect in their lives because they are not educated about it and one of the main reasons that inequality of proper education that exists in Indonesia is because the funding that are necessary for the development of education falls into the pockets of those who are not the rightful hands. Not only that, but the mindset of the young are also tainted by this “darkness” that is passed from older generations, where youngsters only like to be in their own comfort zones and like to have it the easy way.
It is saddening to see that most people here are like “kepiting sawah.” If you see people farming them, you would actually see that a lid does not cover the basket, yet the farmers aren’t afraid to lose them. The answer to their calmness is due to the behavior of these crabs. Whenever one climbs up, the other would pull the rising one down, and it always happens in each and every side, thus not a single one can escape.
I’m not saying that I’m pessimistic towards Indonesia, from this article I do see hope in young people nowadays and I do have faith that one day, all the “rotten” parts of Indonesia will be rejuvenated by these, currently small in number, “saplings” that would hopefully, eventually be the “trees of life.” And what we younger generations can do is to help strive for the better future and leave a magnificent legacy for future generation.
“They felt that young Indonesians seemed politically apathetic, but believed that this stemmed in a large part from ignorance.” I think that our awareness towards politic is still low. Many people didn’t use their rights to vote. Well, it is may be because they don’t trust the government anymore and think that whoever they chose would not make any differences. We need more people like Pingkan Irwin to make people use their votes. What she is doing is actually really helping the government.
ReplyDeleteReading Marcella Chandra Wijayanti’s section in this article makes me considering doing the same thing. I always want to help people and by teaching that means I am helping this country also, right? The government should have been care about the education in Indonesia. The fact that there are so many children especially in rural areas that cannot go to school is really concerning.
Next year is supposed to be my first time voting for the president. Before I read this article, I am planning for not giving my vote, but then I realize my vote is also going to affect the future of this country.
As an Indonesia’s young generation, I feel so proud to know that there are young people who still care about our nation, especially in the politics aspect. Many young people right now are being so apathetic about the politics because we don’t have any idea about what should we do to help our country condition. Our internal problems, mostly in politics, are becoming bigger and bigger. We can’t trust any politician because they will end up disappointing us by commiting wrong-doings such as corruption and many more. We don’t see the point why we should make a move and give our opinions because after all, strong people up there have their own way to get the benefits from their position and authority.
ReplyDeleteYoung people can’t really realize that they have a very important role and rights as Indonesian citizens. I think what those youngters in this article are doing is really useful and amazing. We need to educate the young generation and make them understand that they can make a big constribution in order to fix our country. Although right now it seems so hopeless, I believe if young generation can unite and do the right thing for this country together, we can get up and make Indonesia become a better home for us. We own this country, we’d better protect it.
The young people nowadays have important role in the politics in Indonesia. The young people are active in the politics, though in the smallest thing that they do. The young people are more critical against the politics in this country than the elder, to make the changes. They still have the spirit and many creative ideas. However, to be the politicians in the future, they need long way so that they can be better politicians. Politics aren’t hard at all, so the young people should be active participate the politics. The young people must do something for Indonesia, because the young people are the most important actor that could make the changes.
ReplyDeleteThis is the best way for Indonesia to increase the participation and activities of young people for the common interest in democracy. The young people are really bored see the politicians that become corruptors. The young people want to do what they convey through demo. I agree if the young people that can make the changes to Indonesia to be better.
“It’s only dirty because the people inside are dirty. If you want to make a change, then you have to do it from the inside”
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this article, I feel ashamed to myself. Since I was little, my parents gave me a cable TV that shows channels from the western. Plus, Indonesian news always reports about corrupt and all the bad stuffs. It made me think that I live in a bad country, so I want to move out from here and became an American or an English. I tried my best to learn the language, get a higher and higher education, so I can have money to move from Indonesia.
But then, those youngsters like warn me that, if I leave Indonesia, whose going to run this country? Youngsters are Indonesia’s biggest assets. This country won't get better if the youngsters think the same way as I do. You want to live in a better country? Make your country a better place for living. Everything starts from you. I understand now that my country has a lot of potential, and we, as youngsters, have to discover all of them.
-Jeka-
I feel both proud and relieve to find out that there are still people who care enough to make a change for this country. A lot of us, especially the youngsters, actually care and put sympathy for Indonesian's politics, but don't have the courage to do anything about it. But they are three example of people that willing to risk their careers and lives to make a change. Indonesian is considered to be one of the most corrupted country in the world, which is very bad. One of the factor is because Indonesian's education system doesn't teach us enough about integrity and commitment. Even in junior high, a lot of students cheat during the exam. Then what do you expect they will do when they, for example, have a position in the government and they have an opportunity to have billions of rupiahs just by breaking the rule a little bit? Of course they will do it. They don't have enough self-discipline and integrity. So I am hoping that these youngsters are integrated enough to avoid such temptation and actually do good for the country. I hope that they can make a change and slowly rebuild the trust between citizens and government.
ReplyDeleteNowadays, the young generation seems doesn’t really care about the politics in our country, Indonesia. I think I agree with the opinion of Pingkan Irwin. I think the reasons of why the young generation doesn’t really interest and care about the politics because first, they think politics just the government affair and the adults. Then second, because they don’t really like the behavior of the politicians and they sick of what the politicians do (corruption). Third, like what Pingkan Irwin said, it is because they didn't really know what their rights were or what a functional democracy actually looked like, despite the country's relatively recent transition to democracy. A couple years, in Indonesia, the corruption in politics is increasing. And many people want to become rich instantly and easily through the dirty politics. But it is great to have young generations like Pingkan Irwin, Muhammad Iman, and Yoga Dirga Cahya that interested in politics and concern with the politics in Indonesia.
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