Before Building Golden Indonesia, Have We Understood Its People?

We do not know why we have become the way we are now. Psychoanalysis views humans as individuals whose behaviour is influenced by past experiences and processes we are not always aware of. There is someone who appears tough, but we never know what they have been through. There is someone who finds it hard to trust others, when perhaps they are only learning to be cautious from old wounds. Perhaps there is even a part of ourselves that we do not fully understand. From this I learned: understanding humans means learning to understand the story behind their behaviour. We often only see what someone does, but forget to ask what may have shaped them.

The environment also shapes us: what we continually experience, the way we communicate, our habits, even certain courage or fears. This made me realise that when we want to see change in someone, it is not enough simply to ask that person to change. We also need to ask: has the surrounding environment given them room to change? Because humans do not grow alone. Family, education, friends, community, and society all play a part in shaping the people who will one day become part of the nation’s future.

But humans are not merely the product of the past. This is where the humanistic approach offers a perspective that, in my view, is the most empowering. Humanism sees humans as individuals who have freedom, potential, and the capacity to keep developing. This means that although the past shapes us and the environment influences us, we do not have to remain forever the result of both. We can still choose, change, and grow. There is something within humans that enables them to say, ‘I was once at that point, but I do not have to stay there forever.’ And for me, this is the most important thing I took home from today’s learning.

Humans are complex. These three approaches brought me to one understanding: humans are complex. We are influenced by something within ourselves, shaped by experience and environment, but also have the potential to determine the direction of our own lives. Therefore, understanding humans cannot be done from only one side. We are too often quick to label people lazy, difficult, lacking confidence, or uncaring, when perhaps there is a story we do not know, an unsupportive environment, or potential that has not yet found room to develop. If we carry this perspective into social life, education, and development, the question shifts. It is no longer merely ‘how do we make humans more productive?’, but also ‘how do we create an environment that enables humans to grow?’

So what does this have to do with Golden Indonesia 2045? It means being intelligent, productive, or able to compete. Excellent humans also need to be able to understand themselves, learn from experience, adapt to change, have empathy, hold values, and keep developing. Because technology can keep advancing, the economy can keep growing, infrastructure can keep being built, but all of that ultimately still requires humans who are able to manage it wisely. Therefore, building Golden Indonesia should not only be about building the country, but also about building its people. And those people are being shaped today in classrooms, in families, in friendships, in communities, in society, including through small experiences we often consider insignificant.

Myself and Golden Indonesia 2045. Then I asked myself: if Golden Indonesia 2045 is the future I want to fight for, what can I do? I do not yet know what position I will hold in 2045, nor how great a contribution I can make. But today’s learning made me realise that I do not have to wait to become someone ‘big’ to start contributing. I can start with the way I understand people. With the way I treat others. With my willingness to keep learning. With the courage to admit that I am also still growing, and with the effort to create spaces that make others feel safe to grow together. Because perhaps fighting for Golden Indonesia is not always about doing something big. Perhaps fighting for Golden Indonesia is about becoming a person who keeps growing, then helping others to grow too.

Before Indonesia becomes golden. In the end, I arrived at a simple conclusion: we cannot build a strong Indonesia without building strong people. We cannot talk about the nation’s future without talking about the people who will fill it. Perhaps that is why, before asking ‘what kind of Indonesia do we want to see in 2045?’, we need to ask first: ‘what kind of people do we want to bring into it?’ I want to be part of those people who keep growing. Not because I am finished with myself, but precisely because I realise that I am still in process. And perhaps it is from that small process that a great contribution to Indonesia begins. Understanding people. Accompanying their growth. Growing together. Because before building a golden Indonesia, we need to build its people.