"I'm the greatest star. I am by far. But no one knows it" - that was the character Fanny Brice sung in the motion picture, Funny Girl. It amuses me how the same problem still occurs now, 42 years on. How many people are there who believe they are the "greatest stars", but no one notices their greatness?

I believe there are two factors that will make a person great. One stands out differently from the others. The second is unparalleled commitment to conduct what we think is right and necessary.

Most of the time, people (in general) are afraid of being or doing something different. The industry and the world we live in opts for something safe and the same because they know it is easier, and also because losing is not an option. People can often have rather "conventional" outlooks. They can doubt something, such as man walking on the moon. Nobody ever expected that someday there would be an African or Asian nationality chairing the UN as the secretary general.

Additionally, the industry used to believe that women weren't supposed to chair anything, this was before the 1980s when we had the first female movie director to make a feature film and was nominated for an Oscar. Moreover, here's a stunning wake-up call. A few months back I heard one of the top Indonesian columnists who had said that Asia was not culturally able to lead because we have not had democracy and free speech for as long as the West has had. These are examples of relativity and subjectivity that Albert Einstein was communicating decades ago. It applies to physics but will cause predicaments in real life.

Take this analogy as an example: Suppose all you have for breakfast is an onion roll, then one morning in walks a bagel. You take a look at it and you ask: "What is that??!!" with a hesitancy to try it. That is the problem. The bagels are the minority on a plate full of onion rolls. What becomes of the "bagels"? Do they have to suffer discrimination and settle for less?

John F. Kennedy once said, "Only in winter can you tell which trees are truly green. Only when the wind of adversity blows can you tell whether an individual *or a country* has steadfastness."

These words are about reaching for the stars and to keep pursuing even though there are many hardships. Most people spend their lifetime wondering how they should spend it. Therefore, if you feel that life has provided you with enough guidance to know exactly what you live for, go for it! Don't let people hold you down. Christina Aguilera once sang on her song, "They can take whatever they want to take but they surely won't take my inner peace."

How do you think people living miles away from big cities and who only get to enjoy electricity during nighttime only can be the leaders of world renowned institutions; those who don't even have money to buy a new set of stationery or have to walk to school for only God knows how long. Can those who have to work hard in order not to starve be invited later on in life to speak at the podium during a graduation ceremony to inspire budding spirits?

These are lessons that show in becoming great, there will be a few subsidiary trials. Giving up, however, is not an option. Never stop believing that we are indeed "the greatest star" and exerting our energy to outshine every other ordinary star.

- Yoz Tanuwiria

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