Indonesia has been an independent nation for 72 years. However, not all 250 million Indonesians have been able to enjoy this independence.
The economic gap between the rich and the poor, spatial gap between Java and regions outside Java, the emergence of intolerance and rampant corruption down to village levels are just some of the things that need to be tackled.
The promise of our independence is to improve people’s welfare and to establish social justice. Presently, 28 million Indonesians still live in poverty. The level of education for some of us is still low. We still have to struggle to fully realize these promises.
Daily practices are worrying. Mob rule still occurs. Alleged thieves are being burned alive by mobs. A Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigator fell victim to an acid attack and, so far, no suspect has been named. Statements by political elites that tend to judge, provoke and attack commoners are expressions of unchecked freedom. This is a mistaken understanding in freedom of speech. After gaining independence, we seem to feel that we have the ultimate freedom, including in verbally abusing one another.
In such situations, the state must be present in upholding law and order. The national leader must drive the nation’s positive energy to fill independence with positive work. The national leader must be able to produce big narratives and visions on how Indonesia should be developed – and what the face of the republic looks like when it celebrates its centennial anniversary in August 17, 2045.
We appreciate President Joko Widodo for his consistency in infrastructure development. The development is real and has resulted in numerous benefits. However, it needs to be acknowledged that the economic impacts of infrastructure development can only be felt in the long run. For now, the people need stimulus to improve their purchasing power and they need hope to be able to truly reap benefits from the nation’s independence – something that only some of Indonesians are able to enjoy.
Implementing economic justice is the goal of independence. This is what we must struggle for. President Jokowi’s famous slogan – work, work and work – must be complemented by a spirit of work for the development of Indonesians. Nationhood development is important amid various efforts to blur the Indonesian identity with foreign identities. Surely, nationhood development is of no less importance. We need to remind ourselves how our founding father, Soekarno, was always immersed in big ideas on nationhood, including the thoughts of Ernest Renan and Otto Bauer.
We have lots of work ahead of us. The anniversary of the nation’s independence should be used to reflect on finding breakthroughs so that Indonesia can fly high and move faster in fulfilling the promises of independence.
