TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Demographic bonus could be a disaster
Smoking addiction is surprisingly high among youth. The Health Ministry has revealed that more than one-third of children 15 and older are smokers, with 23 percent of them aged 15 to 19.
Change Size
Smoking addiction is surprisingly high among youth. The Health Ministry has revealed that more than one-third of children 15 and older are smokers, with 23 percent of them aged 15 to 19. (Shutterstock/-)
I
ndonesia is expected to enjoy a demographic bonus in 2020. Furthermore, the period that this bonus has been predicted to last has been extended five years, from 2035 to 2040. This should be a blessing for our country, where the number of people within the productive age bracket is higher than the number of elderly people and children — reaching 64 percent of the population of 297 million people, according to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) — thus reducing the burden on the state to support the people.
Within the first half of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s government, tens of thousands of kilometers of road and toll roads have been and are being built. Within the next two years, new infrastructure such as rail lines, sea ports and airports will have materialized, especially outside of Java.
The supply of qualified and skilled human resources in the next 10 years is vital as these people will be the actors who will operate the economy.
The clock is ticking, however, while we face new threats of disunity as many are easily provoked by issues of religion and ethnicity. Putting aside the necessary factor of skills, racism and sectarianism are among the major threats to this demographic bonus.
Alarmingly, extreme religious teachings are found at the kindergarten level. Recent tensions have led to calls to uphold the Pancasila state ideology as the foundation of the nation’s diversity and to step up teaching of civic education and pluralism in schools.
At this point we should reflect, what kind of characteristics do we desire for this country in the next 10 to 20 years? Naturally, we all dream of skillful, agile, friendly and highly adaptable qualities in our citizens. We want to be a country that is welcoming to all. However, this seems unlikely, as one group’s interpretation of a religion seems to prevail above common sense.
To realize economic development, international cooperation, open-mindedness and willingness to coexist in peace and harmony are inevitable requisites. Economic growth and development need massive investment and investors need stability and political assurance of the investment-destination country.
