Freedom

I love Indonesia very much. It is my beloved country. But until the nation's 65^th anniversary I never have a positive proud of Indonesia. It seems I love Indonesia just because I was born here and I have less choice to choose the citizenship.

As a nation we still fail to give meaning on freedom. Our leaders seem have ideas how to manage this country by our own after the independence dream came true. Since the beginning of independence, we underwent a kind of civil war and power struggle. The government cannot work because it was disturbed by other politicians who were chasing the helm. Bung Karno could not manage this mess and even Bung Karno himself created his own mess by being the lifetime Indonesian president.

Then Pak Harto came as a nation savior against communists. After taking office he managed to make stability in this country. It is his merit that this country for 30 years concentrated on economic development rather than politics. Yes, we had much progress during Pak Harto's stint. We should praise him for promoting the best Indonesian scholars to plan and execute the development. Thanks to oil natural source and its high price, Pak Harto had abundant funds to finance the development. However, natural resources-based development was susceptible to price change. And at last the moment of truth came. The development was out of steam as the oil price tumbled. It turned out the economic development was baseless and easily swept by speculators. At last Pak Harto himself was ousted by his own people.

In the wake of financial crisis, Indonesia embraced democracy. And the state orientation went back to Bung Karno era, politics before economy. As a result we see more politics drama rather than economic development. Rampant corruptions, messy and powerless government, indifferent leaders, rising sectarian groups are parts of country's picture after 65 year independence.

Whatever happens this is our country and we have no choice, except to fix it at our own disposal.