RI Moving Forward under Crisis

INDONESIAN RISING

Culture of solidarity and mutual cooperation, called gotong royong, supported Indonesian people to deal with any difficulty.

by: Wahyudi Marhaen Pratopo ES, Jurnal Nasional, Jakarta, Monday, August 04, 2008.

The top of McKinley Mountain at 20,320 feet (6,193 meters) became witness of young Indonesian spirit. On Monday, July 9, two Indonesians wrote a history by putting Red and White flag at the top of McKinley in Alaska, United States. They were Pungkas Tri Baruno and Hartman Nugraha, members of Indonesia Bud Expedition to McKinley Alaska and Vinson Massif Antarctica 2008.
Conquering the highest mountain in North America was not an easy job. Members of Indonesia Bud Expedition had to fight against cold weather of the icy mountain. Only two of seven members of the team could reach McKinley’s peak. They needed 18 days to reach the top with many barriers. Pungkas Tri Baruno, one of the expedition members, collapsed on the way down. He was found died at 17,200 feet (5,242 meters).
The tragedy would not stop the Indonesian Bud Expedition to climb Vinson Massive Mountain in Antarctica. “The team is still evaluating the expedition,” said Septembri Yanti, spokesperson of the National Scouting Movement, Pramuka. The scouting organization sponsored the expedition to McKinley and Vinson Massif.
State Minister of Youth and Sports Adhyaksa Dault said, “Pungkas is symbol of spirit of Indonesian youngsters who are not easy to surrender.” To remember the spirit, Adhyaksa will use name of Pungkas Tri Baruno for a library at his office.
Beside Pungkas dan Hartman, there are many other Indonesians who can reach top achievement in various fields. Anies Baswedan, President of Paramadina University Jakarta, is one of top 100 public intellectual in the world, according to the American magazine Foreign Policy. He takes the same position as other world intellectual, including many famous names such as Italian novelist Umberto Eco, former United States Vice President Al Gore, former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, and Peace Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.
In sports, several Indonesian athletes take world championship, such as Chrisjon in boxing, Eko Yuli Irawan in weightlifting, Nova Widianto/Liliana Nasir and Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan in badminton.
A number of Indonesian students reach gold, silver, and bronze medal in Olympiad of science, mathematic, biology, chemistry, and astronomy. Last month, the Indonesian team got one gold medal, four silver medals, five bronze medals, and two honorable mention awards in the Science Olympiad in Madrid, Spain. Indonesia sits at 36th rank of 97 participant countries.
Success is not a monopoly for youngsters. Many people succeeded to handle difficulties as impact of 1998 financial crisis. Aceh residents have awaked from disaster of tsunami, so do Yogyakarta residents whom rocked by earthquake.
A group of women in Bantul, Yogyakarta, developed home industry by producing various snacks. They can run local economy which paralyzed after the earthquake disaster. Other villagers in Bantul collect rice in rice barn to anticipate food crisis.
As a nation, Indonesia has aroused from multidimensional crisis. After financial and political crisis ousted President Suharto from power in 1998, Indonesia has to surpass transitional period to democracy. The country also faces economic difficulties caused by global energy and food crisis.
Presidential Spokesperson Dino Patti Djalal said, Indonesian always has a great human spirit to pass various challenges, since colonial era, struggle for independent, until present crisis. “The point is, that the more we face crisis, more trial, and turbulence, Indonesian become more resilience and stronger. That is our main asset, a spirit to be better, to do better.”
Anthropologist PM Laksono from Gadjah Mada University Yogyakarta said, culture of solidarity and mutual cooperation, called gotong royong, supported Indonesian people to deal with any difficulty. “Standing hand in hand will strengthen people to finish various problems of the nation,” Laksono told Jurnal Nasional in Yogyakarta.
He hopes the government can build an effective bureaucracy which works seriously with outcome oriented. “It must be reminded that people are struggling, not seeing them just as a mass.”
Denny Indrayana, Chairman of Center for Anticorruption Study, Faculty of Law, Gadjah Mada University, stated that corruption eradication is an important effort to build a better Indonesia. "The spread of corruption in Indonesia needs removal surgery. This is always an analogy for corruption that I really like. It is truly portrays the fact that the God Father needs to be caught."
According to Indrayana, Indonesia needs to complete five primary pillar to fight against corruption. The five pillars are anticorruption constitution, asset recovery constitution, corruption eradication commission, special court for corruption case, and witness protection agency.
In the future, Indrayana is optimistic that the five pillars supported by the people can help the nation from suffering because of the deadly disease, corruption.

Wahyudi M Pratopo/Much Fatchurochman/Syifa Amori

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