Wisdom at the Edge of Twilight on 2019

If you face the western horizon later this evening, there is a chance you can watch the sun set slowly. This is also the title of the song Quanno Tramonta ‘O Sole.

KOMPAS/HENDRA A SETYAWAN

A worker records the beauty of the twilight background of the Jakarta city landscape at sunset in the western horizon of the capital on Monday (30/12/2019). By the end of 2019, various achievements had been reached. But a number shortcomings must be corrected next year.

Most likely it will be quiet, allowing those who witness the daily phenomenon to become lost in thought. Religious naturalists will recognize the greatness of the Creator. Those fond of astronomy will realize that the Earth has completed one rotation in that one moment. Later in the evening, the sun will set on the 2019 calendar year.

Then a new year will arrive yet again. However, this can also be extrapolated as a broader time scale, known as an astronomical year. This concept visualizes another dimension of time through astronomical events according to the Copernican system: the movement of the Earth around its parent star, the Sun.

You, and all the rest of us, are familiar with the coming and ending of a year. However, each person has a different impression when gazing at the sunset on the horizon.

Those who have diligently followed national events will imagine the nation\'s journey in 2019 with all its hustle and bustle, phenomena and ridiculousness. Indeed, all the commotion this year once made us worry with its violence, pettiness and excessive ambitions.

KOMPAS/PRIYOMBODO

Artists set to perform during New Year\'s Eve celebrations carry out a soundcheck at the stage area at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle, Central Jakarta, Monday (30/12/2019).

The second government of President Joko Widodo has now been formed, accompanied by much hope and optimism. Those who are critical have warned that the year 2020 will not be an easy year. The optimism that the country is moving toward becoming the seventh world economic power ahead of its centennial must face external factors that are less than friendly.

However, we should also not turn a blind eye to our own weaknesses. To briefly mention the existing challenges: the trade deficit will not disappear before the import-dependent mindset ends; the country will find it difficult to improve its low competitiveness if it does not immediately address HR performance. It is also difficult for us to escape from the middle-income trap. We hope that the elite will make a resolution to self-enlightenment, and will truly fulfill that resolution.

The Earth’s revolution around the Sun will continue for the next few billion years, but humanity, including us, must tackle a variety of urgent problems, including climate change and global warming.

Many people read Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens and Homo Deus in 2019. Sapiens tells us where we came from while Homo Deus shows where we are headed.

Harari writes that the three classic problems that humans around the world face periodically – famine, epidemic and war – are relatively manageable. More people die today from overeating than from starvation, and more people die of old age than from infectious diseases. While we acknowledge the progress we have made, we must not cover up our shortcomings and weaknesses.

May we all welcome New Year 2020.