Country

There is this one thing that I have been dying to express. Growing up in a (well you can call it foreign if you want to) country that is everything called perfection, I thought of my own country is a bitch.
When June or December arrives, I will pack my bag and head to the airport to visit my birth city, Jakarta. Hell, that place is, was, and God knows it might always be, a mess.

You walk out through the Soekarno-Hatta Airport feeling hot and humid. People walk harassingly near you and couriers/bellboy/ or whatever-you-call-it is persuasively (almost attacking you) asked you to use their service to carry your luggage in return for a ten or maybe five thousand rupiah.
Then you walk to the Airport and splashes of dirty water, souvenir from yesterday’s downpour, dirty you new Nikes.

Face it. This country is a mess. You see no red tapes, the administration is rubbish, corruption decorates the whole country but this is it.
You cannot choose where you want to be born. There is this little thing in us, the traces of being an Indonesian that we tend to ignore. Being a bitch and complains a thousand thing about this city brings nothing to the table.
You complain about the traffic, electricity, corruption, police and internet, basically everything. Face it, it brings nothing to you.

We’ve had our share of shitty life here in Indonesia. Cars got stolen, your house got robbed and your wallet is taken by some 5-year-olds pickpocket. Well, welcome to Jakarta.

The big question then strikes me.

Have we done anything in return for this country?
Well, Indonesia might be hell but at the very least it provides you with lodging and (good) food. It might be one cancerous city with the disgusting lifestyle but it still gives us something.
Instead, we mock and mock.
We flee overseas bragging about the greatness of that side of the earth not even a word of promotion to Indonesia’s tourism.

Indonesia has their fair share of fashion yet we always sport that particular brand that comes from Europe, Japan and God knows what other countries.
Corruption? Any complains? How many of us have surrendered to giving 50k rupiah to beer-bellied policemen? Or pay more in order to have a fussy-free passport/identity card/driving license in process? Buying more cars than what the family should have? We did it.

Anyway, Indonesia is NOT the problem. We are.
Everyone has their fair share contributing to this mess. Government, ministers, police officers, teachers, doctors, civil servants, businessmen, students. We do.
In order for a change to be made, there is no easy way out. Either scrape the city and start from scratch or improvement to be made constantly at slow paces. Either way, patience is needed.


Complaining and contributing to the mess does not explain anything.