T

he young people of Indonesia expect improvements in political education, corruption eradication and scope for self actualization in their country by 2045.

The expectations were conveyed during the Vision Indonesia 2045 event held by the Indonesia Diaspora Network Global (IDN Global) and the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI) in Jakarta on Friday.

Young politician from the Indonesian Solidarity Party, Tsamara Amany highlighted the need for political education for voters.

“The lack of political education in 2045 could turn politicians into businessmen who only want a profit, not doctors who know what is wrong with the nation,” she said.

Tsamara said that Indonesia had many youngsters with various ideas and visions that could regenerate the country’s politics by becoming rational voters who judged candidates based on their track records and achievements.

Vision Indonesia 2045 refers to the centenary of Indonesia’s independence.

Meanwhile, Togi Pangaribuan,a young lawyer at Luhut Marihot Parulian Pangaribuan and lecturer at University of Indonesia (UI), said his Indonesia 2045 vision would see an end to all kinds of corruption as well as corrupt mindsets.

“The mindset that if you wanna get things done then money plays a big role, is a dangerous mindset for Indonesia,” he said.

Pangaribuan said corruption cases in Indonesia decreased from 576 cases in 2016 to 482 2017, but the country lost around Rp 6.5 trillion (US$450.93 million) in 2017, Rp 1.5 trillion more than in 2016.

There are some 62 million young people in Indonesia who can unite to end corruption and the corrupt mindset, he added.

The last speaker was Indonesian-French student Gloria Natapradja Hamel, Student Youth Ambassador at the Youth Affairs and Sports Ministry.

She complained that youth tried to achieve things but were often being ignored by adults.

There are differences in how the older and younger generations view things, which leads adults to be pessimistic after seeing how the youth do things, she said.

“We are tired with the older generation being pessimistic about us. We need support, that’s all we need,” she emphasized.

The event was a curtain riser for the Conference of Indonesia Diaspora Youth (CIDY-2018), which aims to unite Indonesian youngsters from all across the world.

The conference will be held from Aug. 13 to 15 in Jakarta when participants are expected to formulate aspirations for Indonesia 2045.

In addition to IDN Global and FPCI, the conference is also organized by the Association of Indonesia Students Worldwide, the Indonesian Lecturers Association and the Indonesian Rectors Forum, IDN Global said in a media release.

IDN Global PR officer Karina Apriladhatin said the conference would take the theme “Toward the Vision of Indonesia 2045” and will be attended by some 1,000 Indonesian young people from home and overseas.

— The writer is an Intern at The Jakarta Post.