Today was the first time I walked through my neighborhood. Usually, I did my cardio work out near the beach or in the jogging track, but today I pushed myself to just walked around my neighborhood. It was really interesting. There were several notes that I took during this unique 'me time.'
First, there was no enough pavement.
Walking was a very rare thing to do here. Most people preferred to ride their motorcycle or car, instead of walking. But lets not kid ourselves and see point one again.
Next, they were staring. Yes, it was an old song about Indonesian culture. People stare. I did not precisely know whether they judged me or just simply...stared. Yet, I could say that it was abnormally normal. That was why, I put earplug on. Sometime I did not want to know what they thought about me when they rudely said it out loud.
However...
I loved the familiarity.
The simplicity of children playing football on the street. Yes, this country needed to open more playground.
The friendliness between neighbors. Housewives in a common neighborhood tended to go outside in the afternoon, just to gather and talk. Well, one could not avoid the talk of gossip, but then again it was so fascinating. During my stay in America, I did not see that kind of 'gathering'. I thought it was an Asian thing.
I walked for one hour or so. Soaked up all the familiarity. Today, I took a good distance from my usual habit and saw closer to where I came from.
Then I realized, if I wanted to be one of those dreamers who wanted to change this country, I should first take a closer look to 'what really happen' around me. Tried to put on Indonesian people's shoes, so we will be able to really know what they need truly. Not from the media, not from others...but from my own eyes and experiences.
Indonesia is a complicated country. I could not say it otherwise because there was not point to deny it either. Nothing could be done overnight because every single infrastructure is connected with each other. Sometime when you want to fix A, you should also think about B, C. and even D factors. And when yo want to develop E further, you should also consider F, G, H and so on and so forth. It is difficult but not impossible.
One by one.
Layer by layer.
Expertise by expertise.
However, one thing that we need for sure: a good cooperation between institutions--nope, even with between individuals.
I read an article about Indonesia as The Sleeping Giant in Asia. I discussed this article with my Dad. He said something that made me think a bit harder than usual, "I think there is a great external influence that determinedly restrain our country's growth. Because we have everything in this country!"
We have huge amount of human resources.
We posses ridiculously rich natural resources.
We are located in the most strategic location.
We have (almost) the best kind of weather. (Well, after experiencing -30 degree of winter and huge amount of snow, one should not complain for having sunny days almost everyday)
We are beautiful... Yes, our Indonesia is more than beautiful. Those natural beaches. Those captivating mountains. Those pretty hills. Those forests. Various species of plants and animals. Those rivers. Those caves. Those cultures; Gosh! We are the true combination of over thirty cultures with different languages, tradition clothes and foods. Most off all, we are a solid unification of characters and beliefs. Yet, we are still proudly call ourselves as one...Indonesian.
It is a beautiful country that needs beautiful touches from her people.
Maybe I do not know a thing about how to practically fix this country now. But I will figure it out. And I know that I am not the only one. There are a lot of people out there who are getting tired of waiting. They are (including me) restlessly burning to make a change.
People who are being let down by this country but not flee out of it and judge from afar. People who are being laughed at because others think that they are too naive and too idealist--but hell, it's better to try rather than grumpily waiting and whining. Right?
I know... it's hard to be the game-changer. We are living in a very artificial world. We need to make our name known first so 'they' will hear our voices. In order to get there, we need to go on a long process.
We cannot go directly, it is too dangerous. Breaking the system when you are a 'new inexperience player' is not an option. We need to be an experienced player outside the system first before getting inside and tear the corrupted one into pieces. We need to be patient if we want to effectively fixing the missing jigsaws.
Nevertheless, I hope that process will not change us...right? Well, as I said, be patient. See the greater goal. It's better to try and fail rather than not trying at all.
And yes, we just haven't met each other yet.
One day!
To those people, I sincerely saying...
"I'll see you on top Indonesian Game-Changers!"
