Growing aspirations

If demands for change are now being aired, the case could be that a new awareness is evolving in our society. People who are better educated and economically better off -- which is proof of the success of development -- will naturally also expand their perspective and expectations.

The government and leaders of the nation are well aware of this development. We may witness, for example, how the attitude is changing among our government officials who are willing to abandon their old attitude as autocrats to become guardians. Bureaucrats are not to be served but to serve the people. True, this change of attitude may not be entirely satisfactory as yet, but the awareness is growing.

It is necessary in this context for our political leaders to begin thinking in earnest about how to accommodate these demands for change, without overstepping the boundaries of our constitution.

Our wisdom will be measured by our capability to foretell what the coming trends will be. We should anticipate all this by providing a framework that will allow for the prevailing dynamics to operate and for the people to exercise their rights. In this way we will be able to maintain our unity, our energy and our dynamism as a nation.

-- Bisnis Indonesia, Jakarta