Opening the Space for Young Indonesians to Prove Themselves

HERYUNANTO

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As has been commonly acknowledged, October has always been greeted by various youth activities including the Youth Pledge. This time, it is important to take its meaning more seriously. Let’s ask: “Is our young generation ready to face a fast-changing new era?”

Like the young people, who later became the founders of the Republic, the youth of today now live in a fast-changing world. The generation of Bung Karno and Bung Hatta witnessed the end of the old world order, which supported colonialism. After interacting with fellow youngsters across the world, they realized that there was a spirit in the world that was unstoppable.

A new era would soon be born. Realizing that, they became doctors and nurses who birthed that new era.

Today’s youngsters are growing up in a world that is changing. It’s a phenomenon that can be clearly seen. Countries,  which are the main pillars of the modern world system, should accept the reality that they are no longer the only authority that solves various problems.

Large established companies are closing one by one because they are unable to compete with startups, which are more innovative. The way we manage our daily lives at present will unlikely last as well. The presence of driverless cars and smart homes are only a small taste of what is come in the future.

In order to answer the above question, we have various answers to make us optimistic. Innovative youngsters are emerging in various fields. In the economic field, our young generation continues to innovate and making Indonesia one of the digital economic growth centers in Asia.

In the field of knowledge and technology, the names of Indonesian youngsters are being acknowledged globally because of their work. In the political field, they are spokespersons for a number of parties and groups. The parties are now competing to become “millennial parties”. This is understandable because about 40 percent of voters in the general election next year will be millennials aged between 17 and 35 years.

Unsupportive ecosystem

Unfortunately, I am afraid that our ecosystem has not been given this generation room to improve themselves. In many fields, a large number of brilliant young people’s aspirations are on hold because they do not have the necessary experience. I am not saying that senior experienced figures are unsuitable to lead in various sectors or that they should tender their resignations.

However, in our fast changing world, young people have better opportunities and abilities to advance our nation. At the time when experienced people find it difficult to be disruptive, it is the young people who are now surfing this disruptive wave.

On the ”Youth Dialogue: Youth at Work” panel at the 2018 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund-World Bank Group in Bali, I was asked about the prospects of young people in this fast changing world. I emphasized that they are not burdened by the old way of thinking, which is difficult to change. It also hinders them from moving into a new era. The younger the better. Their heads remain “empty”, are not controlled by the old paradigm, which is already obsolete in many situations.

Unfortunately, the old paradigms are still present in various policies in Indonesia. Even though Industry 4.0 has been widely discussed by various generations and even been written about in various official documents, I am not convinced that this jargon has really been understood. Like many things, our bureaucracy is still mired in the first industry revolution or even before the industrialization era, which is marked by various overlaps of regulations and lengthy processes.

Like in the pre-industrial feudal era, these processes would only be smoothened when we have connections. These conditions led to a saying which still survives today: “If it can be made difficult, why is it made easy?” It is impossible for us to excel in a fast-changing world, if we continue like this.

Various challenges

Let us look at our various challenges. We already talked about Industry 4.0, but our Trade Expo that is being boosted through economic diplomacy is dominated by raw commodities, handicrafts and products with little added values. We are still busy debating the possible influx of foreign workers at a time when the world is preparing itself for automation using artificial intelligence.

We are entering an era where machines are communicating with machines, while overlapping ministries have control over our lands and forests, such as between central and regional governments, between the government and companies, as well as between companies and local people. As a man who believes that the digital economy is key to our various micro, small and medium businesses, we have to face the reality that our logistics system is still beset by many problems.

In ASEAN, Indonesia’s Logistics Performance Index is ranked 46^th, below Singapore (7^th), Thailand (32^nd), Vietnam (39^th) and Malaysia (41^st).

If this situation is not attended to, we will not be able to get out of the middle income trap. The demographic bonus, which is seen by the World Bank as a window of opportunity, will be missed. In order to prevent this from happening, we should make our young generation, who is more familiar and prepared for various rapid global changes, to be the captains of our nation.

It impossible for us to excel if leading figures find it difficult to learn Web 1.0 (static web, one-way internet and email) and Web 2.0 (internet as a platform, emphasizing online collaboration and sharing among users and social media) to decide our policies in the era of Web 3.0 (which is marked by the involvement of artificial intelligence and machine learning).

History shows us that that whenever young people take a leadership role, there is a magnificent jump in innovation. About 99 years ago, in a European-style house in Kramat Raya, a group of young people instigated an extraordinary innovation. In the Youth Pledge, they offered an innovative political vision that was oriented to the future by saying that they, who came from various ethnicities and talking different languages, “have one Motherland, have one Nation, and highly uphold the Language of Unity”. This political vision sounded like a dream in broad daylight in 1928, but this later led colonized nations to gain their independence.

ARSIP BUKALAPAK.COM

Achmad Zaky

Young generation’s stage

In the spirit of the Youth Pledge, let us as a nation jointly give wider trust to young people. Give them opportunities to prove themselves in various fields. Do not just utilize them simply to garner consumers or votes. Open space for them to be involved in the formulation of policies at companies, political parties or in the bureaucracy.

Of course, the Youth Pledge also teaches them that leadership demanded will be easily given. They have to take it with both hands. If not, we will remain young in age but old in thought.

Congratulations on commemorating the Youth Pledge!

Achmad Zaky, Founder and CEO, Bukalapak