Just thank the people

We should be thankful for the peaceful general election, despite some shortcomings in its implementation on April 5. The people understand well that maintaining unity is very important. They deserve our appreciation because it is they who made the election a success.

The people have succeeded in saving Indonesia from uncertainties due to a lack of professionalism among political leaders in governing the country and the limited funds to set up the polling stations.

In certain electoral regions, the people had to collect money to rent equipment to hold the polls. Even housewives made cookies voluntarily for election workers, who worked hard until midnight to count the votes.

How fortunate Indonesia's political leaders are. The people have not acted against their poor performance.

The Indonesian people's spirit of unity -- termed by Indonesia's founding father, Sukarno, as mutual cooperation -- is priceless. It has made the people confident that the country will be revived. The question however is, are political leaders capable of leading the country to a brighter future?

-- Media Indonesia, Jakarta

Don't take education for granted

It is understandable that we have been focusing on the recent legislative election. Although, everybody should be aware that we still have another big problem: Education.

Educational issues cover not only the quality of national education, but also the quality of the infrastructure we have.

We were shocked by the report of the collapse of a school building in Banten, leaving at least 20 students wounded. Similar incidents had previously taken places. Given such a catastrophe, many say that even schooling is dangerous in the country.

If we fail to deal with the hardware of education then when do we talk about the more substantial issue of education; human resources?

We must be more serious in educating the next generation. We must provide children with better quality education, or else we will bring the country to destruction.

We must acknowledge that we've neglected the education of our younger generations. Worst, the current leaders of the nation have failed to set good examples for the younger generation.

-- Kompas, Jakarta