Last week, I deliberately arrived an hour early for a business\nmeeting at the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), in Jakarta\u2019s SCBD\ndistrict. It had been three years since I last set foot there, after\nchoosing a slower pace of life as a digital nomad in Bali and Bogor.<\/p>\n
This area used to be part of my daily rhythm. After dawn prayers, I\nwould hurry to Bogor station, take the commuter train, then continue by\nride-hailing motorbike or TransJakarta. Thousands of people followed the\nsame routine.<\/p>\n
While waiting, I sat in a local coffee shop and watched people come\nand go. In an hour, around 100 people bought coffee there. Most were\nyoung people dressed smartly or in business casual clothes, walking\nbriskly with their phones in hand.<\/p>\n
At several tables, I overheard conversations about the state of the\nnation, geopolitics and their impact on people\u2019s jobs. It had been a\ndifficult week, with the Indonesia Stock Exchange Composite Index (IHSG)\nin the red. But what caught my attention most was that, for this\ngeneration, business and national affairs are no longer separate\nconcerns.<\/p>\n
I was reminded of something. Two weeks earlier, one of my team\nmembers had asked permission to attend a Youth Pledge commemoration\nevent in Jakarta. Sitting in that coffee shop, the request took on a new\nmeaning.<\/p>\n
The youth of 1928 and the young people queuing for\ncoffee<\/strong><\/p>\n Youth Pledge Day falls on 28 October. In 1928, representatives of\nvarious regional youth organisations gathered in Batavia at the Second\nYouth Congress: Jong Java, Jong Celebes, Jong Ambon and others. They\ncame with different identities.<\/p>\n There was no independent country, no large capital and certainly no\ntechnology. All they had was the conviction that differences did not\nhave to be an obstacle. That conviction gave rise to three pledges: one\nhomeland, one nation and one language of unity, Indonesia.<\/p>\n Today, we often treat the Youth Pledge as a ritual: a ceremony, a\nsocial media post, and then it is over. Yet it was a strategic document\nrich in meaning. Without military power or capital, those young people\nbuilt what we now call a shared identity\u2014the foundation that enabled\nmillions of people who had never met to move in the same direction.<\/p>\n The young people in the SCBD coffee shop face different adversaries:\nnot colonialism, but global competition, technological disruption and\neconomic uncertainty. Yet the underlying spirit is the same: they refuse\nto be spectators and want a say in shaping their own future.<\/p>\n Working from anywhere, uniting in new ways<\/strong><\/p>\n A slower pace of life does not mean stopping work. It means being\nable to work from anywhere and remain productive. My 75-year-old mother\nis still active at work and continues to travel, both for professional\nand personal reasons. The world of work changed after the Covid-19\npandemic. We can now choose to work remotely or go into the office, and\njobs are no longer tied to one building or city.<\/p>\n This change has also altered the meaning of unity. In the past, unity\nwas associated with physical togetherness: gathering in one place,\nraising the same flag and singing the same song. Today, a young person\nin Labuan Bajo can work for a client in Singapore, collaborate with a\ndesigner in Yogyakarta and talk with an investor in Jakarta or\noverseas\u2014all in one day without moving.<\/p>\n Technology removes distance and should make unity easier. But it also\nbrings risks: algorithms that confine us to narrow bubbles, hoaxes that\nspread faster than corrections, and polarisation cultivated for\nengagement. The youth of 1928 had to travel for days to meet. We have\nconveniences they did not, but often forget to use them to bring people\ntogether.<\/p>\n Geopolitics has reached the coffee queue<\/strong><\/p>\n These young people discussed geopolitics as if it were an everyday\nmatter. And it is. Trade tensions, fluctuations in energy and commodity\nprices, shifts in global interest-rate policy and technological rivalry\nbetween major powers all affect the cost of goods, the availability of\njobs and opportunities for start-ups.<\/p>\n In the past, mastering just one field was enough for me. That is no\nlonger sufficient, because everything is interconnected. This week\noffers an example: forest and land fires in Kalimantan have prompted\nprotests from several countries in the region, and responses to those\nprotests have varied. We need to weigh different perspectives before\ntaking a position. One thing is certain: events in Kalimantan can now be\nknown around the world in an instant.<\/p>\n Geopolitics used to be discussed in diplomatic circles. Now it is\ndiscussed in coffee queues because its effects are felt directly. To me,\nthat is good news. A nation whose citizens understand geopolitics is\nharder to divide and better able to spot opportunities. The youth of\n1928 also read the times. They understood that the fate of the Dutch\nEast Indies was connected to global developments, from the rise of Asian\nnationalism to the idea of self-determination.<\/p>\n But understanding is not enough. What matters is whether that\nunderstanding leads to productive action: building businesses, creating\njobs, generating value-added innovation and avoiding a future in which\nwe are merely a market for other nations\u2019 products.<\/p>\n The demographic dividend: an opportunity that will not\nwait<\/strong><\/p>\n More than half of Indonesia\u2019s population now belongs to the\nMillennial and Gen Z generations. This age structure, dominated by\npeople of working age, is what we call the demographic dividend, and\neconomists often warn that the window is limited.<\/p>\n If managed well, it could help propel us towards Golden Indonesia\n2045. If not, it could become a burden: youth unemployment, skills that\ndo not match industry needs and widening inequality.<\/p>\n The scene in SCBD shows the optimistic side of this story. But SCBD\nis not all of Indonesia. Outside the district, many young people still\nlack reliable internet access, quality education or the capital to start\na business. If the Youth Pledge is about unity, then unity today must\ninclude equal access to opportunity. No young person should be left\nbehind simply because they were born in the wrong place.<\/p>\n Three pledges, reread at the age of 98<\/strong><\/p>\n This year, we mark the 98th anniversary of the Youth Pledge. Allow me\nto reread its three pledges through today\u2019s lens, as a reminder of the\nimportance of history.<\/p>\n One homeland. The homeland of young people today extends beyond the\nphysical map. It includes digital space, global supply chains and\ninnovation ecosystems. Protecting it means building sovereignty in all\nthose areas\u2014data, technology and food, not just territory.<\/p>\n One nation. A united nation is not a uniform one. It can work across\nbackgrounds, whether between corporations and start-ups, Jakarta and the\nregions, or older and younger generations. My mother, still working\nactively at 75, is a reminder that youthful spirit is not the preserve\nof the young.<\/p>\n One language. Indonesian is the bond inherited from the youth of\n1928. Amid the spread of foreign languages in the workplace, we need not\nbe anti-foreign, but we should take pride in our own language. The\nlanguage of unity must also be able to explain science, business and\ntechnology clearly.<\/p>\n Working from anywhere, making a pledge to\neveryone<\/strong><\/p>\n I left the coffee shop with one thought. The world of work has\nchanged, and yes, work can be done from anywhere. But the same question\nasked in 1928 still applies: who are we working for, and what kind of\nnation do we want to build?<\/p>\n The youth of 1928 did not wait for ideal conditions to make their\npledge. They made it when conditions were far from ideal. Today\u2019s\ngeneration has far greater resources: technology, global networks and a\ndemographic dividend. What is needed is the will to bring them together\nin one direction.<\/p>\n Perhaps it is time to add an unwritten pledge for ourselves: that\nevery job we do, from a caf\u00e9 in Ubud, an office in SCBD or a home in\nBogor, should help create value for Indonesia. That is the most tangible\nway to celebrate the Youth Pledge in the 21st century.<\/p>\n Happy Youth Pledge Day. Indonesia is waiting for our actions.<\/p>",
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