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Indonesia most hopeful country, survey reveals
When asked about her outlook for 2018, 53-year-old salon owner Nini said without hesitation, “I’m very optimistic
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When asked about her outlook for 2018, 53-year-old salon owner Nini said without hesitation, “I’m very optimistic.”
Two working days into the New Year, business at her beauty salon in Bendungan Hilir, Central Jakarta, has been unusually slow.
“It has been very anemic,” she said. “But I’m sure that it will pick up after people come back from the long [year-end] holiday.”
And despite being a staunch supporter of former Jakarta governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, who is now serving a prison sentence after being convicted of blasphemy, Nini said she was hopeful about where the country was heading.
“It’s true that in 2017 people were easily provoked and incited by religion,” she said. “But I think the experience has opened a lot of people’s eyes.
“I’m sure that for the 2018 regional elections, they will not be so easily manipulated.”
Last year was tough for Indonesia with political and ideological divisions starker than ever after a heated Jakarta gubernatorial election that stoked religious and racial tensions in the country.
Novy Linasari, a 28-year-old shop manager in Bali, acknowledged the growing societal discord, but said she remained optimistic.
“I think last year was a learning experience. The year 2018 will definitely be better, especially because the younger generation is becoming more critical,” she added.
Nini and Novy’s optimism was shared by over 70 percent of Indonesians, according to Gallup International’s latest Annual Global End of Year Survey.
The survey, which was conducted in 55 countries between October and December 2017, asked respondents questions on three topics: hope, economic optimism and happiness.
Indonesia ranked as the most hopeful country and made the top 10 in the other two topics, making it the overall “winner” of the survey.
When asked whether they thought 2018 would be better or worse than 2017, 73 percent of the 1,026 Indonesians surveyed said it would be better, while only 6 percent said it would be worse.
The survey also showed that 63 percent of Indonesians believed that 2018 would be a year of economic prosperity for the country, while 73 percent said they felt happy about their lives.
Psychologist Ahastari Nataliza told The Jakarta Post that optimism has a strong correlation with cognitive ability, particularly the ability to see things from a different perspective.
“For example, if someone experienced a bad car accident last year, one person might say it was a very bad year because of the hospital fees or the repair costs,” she said. “But another person might say it was a good year because they survived.”
She added that optimism was something that could be learned over time. “I am sure that everyone is able to be optimistic.”
Nini echoed Ahastari’s comments saying that “it all depends on how you think.”
Jakarta State University (UNJ) sociologist Robertus Robet said the survey results seemed paradoxical because the countries that ranked the highest were those that faced serious sociopolitical and economic problems, such as Nigeria, Bangladesh and Mexico.
Developed European democracies, on the other hand, were among the most pessimistic.
“It seems that the hope and happiness measured by the survey is unrelated to the economy and democratic stability of a country,” Robertus said.
“That means that a high ranking on the hope and optimism index does not necessarily mean that a country is productive and progressing,” he added. “It could also mean stagnation. People are optimistic because they ignore the problems.”
Lutfi Kurniawan, 25, seems to have taken that route.
An employee at a private company in Jakarta, Lutfi said he was striving to be more optimistic this year.
“I have thought a lot about all the problems in the world and in Indonesia,” he said. “But then I realized even the President, who thinks about that all day, can’t solve everything. So I’ve decided to be more positive and focus on my own personal goals.” (kmt)
