"A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in." --- Greek Proverb
We live in a country that proudly claims to be rich. Each state speech is filled with romantic narratives about the abundance of resources, from gold mines, coal, palm oil, nickel, you name it. A myth of endless wealth is repeated, becoming a kind of national spell. But behind all of that ceremonial optimism, few trees are planted for the generations to come. What grows instead are extractive ambitions, paved roads to nowhere but short-sighted milestones. Amid grand speeches of surplus and national pride, young people find little to no place to thrive. They walk under the burning sun with inherited burdens, outdated glory, and deferred dreams. According to BPS, this quarter, Indonesia's GDP grew by 5.12%, a figure that exceeded official projections. It sounds like progress, but why do young generations actually feel burdened? Are we really inheriting prosperity, or just the splendor of promises?
The Asian Tiger Echo
There was a time when the world looked to Indonesia with awe, not just for its size, but for its milestones. In 1976, we were the first in Asia to launch a domestic communication satellite, Palapa A1, nearly two decades before Korea's own KoreaSat. Our engineers, led by B.J. Habibie, created the N-250, the world's first turboprop aircraft with fly-by-wire controls in 1995. In 1969, Malaysia imported 40-100 of our teachers each year, including lecturers to help develop the education curriculum. We weren't just a developing nation, we were a beacon of progress for our neighbors. This progress was driven not only by vision but also by young generations who were empowered to innovate, lead, and build.
The phrase "Macan Asia" also came from our growing spirit of manufacturing base expansion. In the early 1990s, our growth story was real. GDP grew at around 7% annually, and by 1995, Indonesia had hit 8.2%. More impressively, the manufacturing sector was growing even faster than GDP, twice as fast as the national economy (AMINEF, 2020). Manufacturing wasn't just a part of growth, it was the engine. Then came the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. It hit us hard and brought manufacturing growth to a stop.
What followed was the Reform era, a moment of hope. But that hope was scattered. Not only the manufacturing sector faced a major setback, but also the broader institutional framework. Cabinets changed, curriculums flipped, and priorities kept shifting with every election cycle. Countries that were once inspired by our steps, committed themselves to long-term plans, built industries, invested in education, and created space for their people to grow. But instead of building on our breakthroughs, we started over again and again, putting bandaids on deeper wounds. We had the makings of an Asian Tiger, but without institutions strong enough to channel that potential into long-term strategy, we lost our footing, and somewhere along the way, the roar softened into an echo.
Still Digging, Not Building
Instead of laying the groundwork for a resilient, innovation-driven economy, where young generations can contribute and thrive, Indonesia kept digging, quite literally. Mining, palm oil, and raw exports still dominate our GDP, with mineral fuels alone accounting for 22.99% of total exports (InCorp, 2024). Our economy grows, yes, but like crops harvested too early, it lacks roots. Indonesia's dependence on raw exports reflects the resource curse, the paradox where countries rich in natural resources often experience weak long-term growth and become a barrier to development. Instead of diversifying and moving up the value chain, our economy remains skewed toward extractive sectors. We're stuck in the environmental degradation phase of the Environmental Kuznets Curve, depleting the earth with no turning point in sight. This stagnation was worsened by premature deindustrialization and growth that still leans heavily on resource extraction instead of innovation in clean industries. The contribution of manufacturing to Indonesia's GDP which once reached 32% in 2002, had dwindled to 19% in 2024 (BPS, 2025). While in 2023, renewable energy investment reached only US$1.5 billion, far below the US$146billion needed by 2030 (IEEFA, 2024). Instead of building factories of the future, we dig into the ground and hope the earth will keep giving.
