GNFI's Independence Day Message

It has been really tough days for me here; planning my trip back to Indonesia has never been this complicated and tight. I am currently at Changi Airport Terminal 1, waiting for Valuair to fly me back to my home town. It was a long line in the check-point counter, most of them were foreigners wanting to visit Indonesia.

I managed to chat with an Irish lady, asking them which part of Indonesia she'd visit, she said that she'd try to visit as many provinces as possible during her a month stay. That is not a simple thing though. It was a beacon of Indonesia's image internationally which has been increasingly high since 5 years back, following the successful economic development and political stability. And of course, our role in global stage seems to return to the point where Indonesia was once know as one of prominent power in Asia.

I am aware that there are still pessimism among Indonesians, but let me tell you one thing. When our founding fathers once decided to establish a nation called INDONESIA, they had more than enough reason to feel pessimistic about the newly established country, where poverty, instability, disintegration, low-capacity of its people were twisting each other. Not even a single thing that would make them feel secure.

Now, everything has changed. Indonesians has all needed to feel optimistic: smart youngsters, abundance natural resources, growing investment and exports, political stability, macro-economic growth, rapid infrastructure development, high-profile image internationally, and more.

Yes, we still learn... learning is a continuous task. We can take the best practice on how to develop a nation; good governance and discipline mentality that of Singaporeans, low-profile individuals of Japanese, hardworking people of Swedish, open and rational people of Australians, endurance of the Chinese, and nationalism of the Russian. We can add some more. There's no doubt that optimism plays important role in development of a nation.

Happy B'Day, Indonesia!