O

ur archipelago provides a variety of beautiful attractions both on land and at sea, yet strangely, only foreign tourists seem able to see this clearly; only they, too, seem able to see the business opportunities of this country.

Since time immemorial Indonesia'€™s mountain craters and strong island currents have existed; yet many local eyes still don'€™t see clearly what foreign eyes do.

For so long the desire of millions of Indonesians for a better life has been hampered by government corruption. Private investment is not desired; state participation involving government personnel is preferred, as if to ensure a piece of the corrupt pie for the involved political parties.

These corrupt practices have gone too far; our economic infrastructure has been abandoned, if not forgotten, if not plundered! Our new government, under Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo and Jusuf Kalla, looks ready to move for the sake of the people, who have been abandoned for the past almost seven decades.

With our depleted government funds, we must learn how to invite foreign capital investment into the country. However, the corrupt state-owned enterprise system is very much blocking foreign investment into this capital-hungry nation. Fortunately, foreign capital is indeed eager to invest in our potentially lucrative archipelago. Most indolent political members think only of their own personal programs; so-much-so that the people remain poor and even divided through the misunderstanding of religious belief.

Our new government must understand that the current refusal to improve education is deleterious to the unity of our nation.

Pancasila (the state ideology) and its constituent Bhineka Tunggal Ika (unity in diversity) must be instilled in the grassroots population if we are to preserve unity among our fast-growing population. Proper education and good leadership will undoubtedly put the nation back on the right track; our immediate goal must be to accommodate the needs of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC).

The AEC can then lead us in the right direction, in which the whole population is fully integrated into economic participation.

Moeljono Adikoesoemo
Jakarta