WHY WE LEFT BEHIND? (Agus Putra Gowa)

The difference between developed and progressed country do not depend on how old the countries are. India and Egypt for examples, both are more than 2000 years old but they are still left behind (poor country). On the other hand, Singapore, Canada, and New Zealand are countries which are less than 150 years old, but they become some of the most progress countries in the world.

The availability of Natural resources is not the guarantee that a country will be rapidly progress or rich. Japan, a modern and progressed country, has a restricted area. 80 %of its area is mountains and it is not enough for farming and animal husbandry. However, Japan is like a huge “floating industry”. They are importing raw material from all over the world and exporting the finished product. Switzerland, a small country in Europe, has only 11% productive area. But it can process high quality milk (Nestle), on the other hand, many rich people trust to save their money in some Swiss Banks. Race or ethnic is not the important case. Lots of people argue that African immigrants are lazy workers. But the fact, they are very productive in progressed countries. So, what are the differences?

The differences are related to the people’s attitudes. Based on the analysis upon the progressed country’s attitude, they obey the following fundamental principles of life, such as, Honesty, Be responsible, Respect to the rules, Respect to the other people’s right, love the work/job, Investment, Work hard, and be on timer.

In a developed or poor country, only certain people want to apply these principles. In Indonesia, it is too hard to find anybody who wants to apply the principals above. We have a lot of smart people but we are lack of honest people since corruption becomes an old case which has never been overcome. The question is: are we ready to be a progressed country? Can we apply the fundamental principles of life? Changing start from our self, from a small thing and do it right now!!

• Left behind : Terbelakang
• Animal husbandry : Peternakan
• Raw material Barang mentah
• Honesty : Kejujuran
• Investment : Investasi
• Progressed country : Negara maju
• Developing country : Negara berkembang

1. As a young generation, how do you take a part in developing our country?
2. Why are Indonesians easy to break the law and disobey the rules?
3. How to change the people’s attitude?