Actually, this is the title of my friend’s presentation, but I really love it so right now I’m using it for my article. Not many people got the chance to go to Japan and stay there for some times. Many people just go there for sightseeing and being tourist, especially Indonesian. I was lucky since I got the chance from Department of Food Science and Technology from IPB (Institut Pertanian Bogor) to go to Japan with scholarship from DIKTI (Direktorat Jenderal Pendidikan Tinggi). It’s an honor to get exchange program called AIMS Program (ASEAN International Mobility for Students Program). Through this experience, I got a different point of view of how I look into Indonesia. Well, this country is not as bad as you think of it.
The first time I landed in Narita Airport, I expected to see the wonderful world of Tokyo just like what I imagined. But, I had to feel disappointment when I realized that Tokyo was quite “humble” design with every corner has the same design, exactly the same apartment and the same panoramic view.The first time I got in my mind was that Indonesian design in building way much variety than this. From that point I learned that Indonesia has the creative side that maybe none of us really care about our nations.
We are very happy living and relax people. No matter how painful we feel about our works or jobs, I can see that employees in Japan were much more suffering. They seemed work too hard even they don’t enjoy themselves. That’s why, every bar after 7 were full of people, mostly of employees from many companies. Japanese people can really enjoy themselves when they are under alcohol. Recognizing this made me think that how grateful that Indonesia where I live are full of happiness even without alcohol. We can find happiness everywhere through everything. We don’t need to seek for alcohol drink to feel happy.
Born as Indonesian, rules are one of things that I don’t really care much. But, when in Japan I felt that too many rules applied. And people there feel like it’s just normal. They have rules for the garbage, they have rules for making BBQ in your home, they have rules if you want to throw a party, and they have rules everywhere! That moment I realized that they are too concern for little things that can go wrong in their life. No such things as go crazy in Japanese society. It’s most likely to disturb someone, and you don’t want that so you have to make sure you “blend” with other people.
Indonesia is not the best country in the world; even it has too many problems that you can complain of. Even many people want to live outside Indonesia. But, I believe that Indonesia is full of potential. Even when we, as the “dumb” citizens, had already exploited many things in Indonesia, this country still got a lot to give. It’s still rich. And this makes me think, how rich exactly is Indonesia? How powerful will we be if we can manage our resources better than this time?
