Catching up with others

Catching up with others

Whether we like it or not, a country such as ours, Indonesia,
must make greater efforts to catch up with others. We must think
more seriously about how to step up our national development
efforts to improve cohesion, solidarity and the spirit of
nationalism among us.

One of the big problems we must confront, and surmount, is the
tendency for soft living, as defined by Gunnar Myrdal in his
description of soft and strong nations. The criteria by which the
notions of soft and strong are measured include discipline,
capability of hard work and study, incorruptibility,
disinclination towards collusion and putting the nation's
interests before that of the group or individual.

In an informal discussion among scholars and observers with an
interest in Indonesia, held not long ago at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, the conclusion was drawn that, if leaks
could be prevented and inappropriate economic policies
controlled, Indonesia's economic growth rate would be over 10
percent rather than between seven and nine percent.

Challenges, which come from the outside, should be used to
foster a national life that is not hampered by narrow-mindedness
and divisions caused by ignorance.

-- Kompas