Tag Archives: Partai Demokrat

You, Me, and Corruption

Nelson Mandela once said, “It is what we make out of WHAT WE HAVE, not what we are given, that separates one person from another.” And I agree, because for me, a real hero is someone who can liberate themselves using what they have in front of them, no matter how poor their conditions are. With a very limited resource such as poverty, sickness, and disabilities, these people are not ‘dreaming’ for changes, but they do something to change their own situation. And quite often, they eventually change other people’s lives too.

But yesterday when scrolling through my ‘freshly-made’ Google+‘ account and shared this article, I received a comment from a friend saying “the government sucks.” The article was taken from The Jakarta Post and it popped the question on whether or not ‘corruption’ can be considered as a good fortune (rejeki) by the people who were involved with it. I began to think, that maybe corruption is more than just a problem we have with the government, but perhaps it has touched our own culture and sub-conscious mind.

In order to make it disappear, perhaps we all need to think like Mandela. If we’re sick of corruption, we must start the fight with what we HAVE instead of waiting for the government to change. With poor implementation on our legal system, more fugitives are escaping to other countries and making excuses to the media. The last thing we need right now is for our ‘noble’ government to become an example. And surely, we don’t need their help to eliminate the “corrupted mind-set” which has grown in our culture.

What we need right now, is more people supporting each other to liberate themselves from the habit of ‘waiting for a change’ to start ‘creating a change.’ Sure, we all know that the government sucks, but instead of spreading posters on the social network to remind people about it, we definitely need something else inspiring and less provocative. If we want to create a brand-new generation, we have these heroes who have started their quest and succeed. They are our inspiration, and if we want to follow their path we better start by changing our own attitude and believe in our own capabilities. Just like what Dr Michael Leksodimulyo said, “everyone is born equal..”

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