Prabowo's Warriors: When Real Work Speaks Louder
Benjamin Franklin once bequeathed a classic adage: “Well done is better than well said.” Real work is far more valuable than mere sweet words. However, what was conveyed by one of the founding fathers of the United States seems to have become a paradox in the current era. Is mere “real work” truly sufficient in this noisy digital age? The answer can be highly relative, especially when drawn into the landscape of governance and public policy in Indonesia.
In the era of social media, society is vulnerable to heuristic bias—the psychological tendency that makes us more easily absorb and believe negative information that triggers emotions. As a result, public information channels more often give a platform to actors spreading cynical sentiments.
Conversely, many positive breakthroughs are deliberately distorted and twisted into frightening misinformation. Recall the Covid-19 pandemic era; vaccines, which scientifically are the key to saving humanity, were instead narrated as foreign propaganda for mass murder. Or in the world of state corporations, when there are positive efforts to streamline loss-making subsidiaries for efficiency, the narrative is twisted into “a bankrupt state auctioning off assets.”
The reality of social media today is so brutal. Many parties end up infected with the “Not to impact, but to impress” syndrome—working not to deliver fundamental impact, but merely to seek validation, a stage, and artificial popularity metrics.
Amid this noise, we must reinterpret the phenomenon of the “silence” of accomplished individuals. This is what is called The Art of Silence. Silence here does not mean passivity, but rather an incubation space for strategic execution. Because, after all, the true principle of a policy is to give birth to benefits, not merely to polish an image.
We need to encourage more stories about these silent workers to surface. This is crucial to counter the misinformation narratives often spread for narrow political interests. Indeed, at the beginning of President Prabowo Subianto’s administration, there is still homework to be done here and there. However, objectivity demands that we see the major achievements being forged, particularly in shifting from artificial economic growth to fundamental growth.
As a concrete example, let’s look at the track record of Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman, the architect of food self-sufficiency. He has made history because, amid a world haunted by crisis and the threat of hunger, Indonesia is slowly but surely able to build its food resilience. This is not just a claim, but technical work in creating new rice fields, improving fertiliser trade systems, and optimising irrigation.
There is also the figure of National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo, who has consistently proven himself to be a leader who works more than he speaks. The improvement in the image and performance of the Indonesian National Police can be directly felt by the wider community. Without much drama in front of the camera, Listyo Sigit has carried out thorough internal clean-ups without favouritism, promoted digitalisation of police services (such as electronic ticketing/ETLE) that minimises extortion, and prioritised restorative justice that truly touches the sense of justice at the grassroots level. He has turned the Indonesian National Police into a shock absorber amid social upheavals, not a creator of commotion.
The same goes for Dony Oskaria, Head of the State-Owned Enterprises Executive Agency (BP BUMN). He is a perfect example of applying The Art of Silence in corporate management. As the architect of BUMN transformation, he has carried out massive consolidation that reduced the number of BUMN entities from 1,077 overlapping companies to just 257 focused and competitive companies.
Dony’s real performance is also strongly recorded during the disaster that struck Sumatra at the end of 2025. Without much rhetorical publication, he orchestrated the strength of BUMN to restore conditions, collaborating to build thousands of residents’ homes in a very short time. Dony proved how the art of working navigates crises without needing to speak much in the media.
His fundamental work character is also reflected in his firm policy in reorganising BUMN financial reports. If previously there was a tendency to “make up” reports (cook the books) to look impressive artificially, Dony dismantled that culture. He mandated absolute transparency. His principle is simple and bold: if the performance and reports are poor, that BUMN must transform. Conversely, if the reports are good, it becomes the minimum standard to be maintained and improved. The ban on “cooking the books” practices is a fundamental step, because data honesty is the main foundation for creating real work value rather than just speaking.
In the end, there is a common thread that binds the leadership styles of Amran, Listyo, and Dony. They prove that hard work always speaks louder than mere sweet words. Without over-claiming or excessive image-building, that performance is presented concretely and becomes a resounding answer for the public questioning the direction of the Prabowo administration.
Of course, it’s not just these three. There are still many officials in this cabinet who have carved out real achievements outside the spotlight of the camera. On the other hand, we also do not deny there are ministers with excellent performance who are indeed vocal and communicate well in public, such as Erick Thohir or Bahlil Lahadalia.
The collaboration between these “silent workers” and “master communicators” ultimately becomes the best shield to counter misinformation and propaganda deliberately spread by certain individuals to discredit the government.
Propaganda may always be noisy on social media. But in the real world, grassroots society ultimately feels the direct impact of those policies. Like an ancient proverb: “Tak