Letter: Individuals' courage needed to change

I would like to comment on a letter titled "Can Indonesia change?", (The Jakarta Post, Nov. 20). There lies a reality in Indonesia that is shifting. This shifting exists everywhere.

Various strains of what we see and hear is commented about, discussed and debated on various public forums. From the online and print media, social networks and afternoon tea's fueled with a frustration of people longing for the remnants (more than remnants?) of the New Order regime to dissipate.

But will of the people is voiced, or at least it can be voiced. And this is good. It brings hope and with it we see the possibility of a positive change through discussions, listening and action based on what we learn. Learn not believe. But change is far from immediate, painfully slow at times and the fact that nine year old spit and polish boys at the airport can be arrested without the notification to their parents, and then stuck in a jail cell with hardened criminals is just one example of a type of morality that seems to know no humility.

The conspiracy against KPK is another example. It is representative of a morality that has been dictated by the will of the few for over 30 years. Well, therein lies the truth of Indonesia. It has by no means left behind the entrenchment set by the will of a steel fisted leader determined to maintain a nation. A nation built upon the idea that Java and its empire could lead these Islands of Tanah Air into nationhood. Religion was strictly controlled, so was the media, thought was managed.

Food, arms and borrowing were priorities to support the control of a regime determined to manage the island populations of 200 million and stake claims to the its resources. Now, simply put, it is a time to manage these resources and serve the people of the archipelago with education and cultivation of free will. To uproot the entrenchment dictated by the will of a few.

Get Western governments to pay for education in the developing world such that young people can grow to be innovative free thinkers. Spend some more time on sail boats and less time in cars. Buy a bicycle, ride a bicycle. Plant a Rangoon Creeper. There are no secrets in life.

It's hard work and should be enjoyed, commit to the greater good and ensure that politicians go through serious vetting process before being elected into power.

The media isn't enough. It will take individual courage. Your courage, to think that you matter and to waste less time thinking about the absurd and more time working in the reality which you can positively affect.

Avi Hazuria
Denpasar