Matikan TV kalau isinya cuma merusak. Berhenti baca berita kalau hanya menyampaikan kabar buruk. Itu yang saya lakukan. Saya terlalu pesimis kepada para “pemilik” republik ini.
Sampai kemudian membaca sebuah artikel di techcrunch.com, sebuah blog teknologi terbesar di internet. Tentang potensi Indonesia, tentang kreatifitas rakyatnya, tentang kesempatan Indonesia dalam persaingan teknologi informasi dengan negara lain yang juga mencengangkan dalam pertumbuhan, India.

Komentar yang disampaikan disana banyak menggambarkan Indonesia. Meskipun banyak didominasi oleh kita-kita juga, tetapi ada beberapa hal yang bisa dilihat dari pandangan “bule” tentang kita. Mereka yang tidak pernah mengunjungi Indonesia secara langsung akan menyatakan keraguan, stereotip tentang islam, komunisme, dan korupsi. Yang kemudian disanggah oleh yang lain yang punya pengalaman berinteraksi dengan kita, tentang toleransi, islam moderat, inovasi, gairah ekonomi, perkembangan teknologi, dan reformasi.

Natalie Binder - June 6th, 2010 at 10:16 pm UTC
During my Fulbright scholarship, I taught middle and high school students in rural Indonesia. I can say with confidence that the country is ripe for investment and growth. My students were all deeply religious, but they were also extremely well-educated, competent in four languages (Indonesian, Javanese, English, Arabic), and had a very positive–if nuanced–view of America and the West. Older students frequently questioned me about how Indonesia could overcome corruption and achieve the same success as first-world countries.

As an American woman traveling alone, I was welcomed everywhere and never felt threatened. That said, religious extremism and violence are still a concern, poverty is widespread, and the country's central government is weak and potentially unstable. Indonesia has also been abused by foreign investors in the past. It has every reason to proceed with caution.

That said, investment would be a tremendous blessing to this beautiful country and its young, ambitious population. Successful business ventures in the region would help the country support security, stability and infrastructure development, its most pressing needs–and these changes would make Indonesia even more appealing to new investors.

Mungkin, kalau setiap hari yang disampaikan di berita adalah hal positif seperti ini, maka para wakil rakyat akan malu dengan rakyatnya sendiri.

Ps. Jangan pedulikan komentar pertamax gaya kaskus yang ternyata masih dengan kreatif dilakukan disana, dan gagal.