RI's 78th Anniversary, Preparing For Bekal Towards Indonesia Gold 2045

The commemoration ceremony for the 78th Anniversary of the Republic of Indonesia at the Merdeka Palace on August 17, 2023. (Setpres/Muchlis)

Fadillah Arbi Aditama managed to make the Red and White flag fly on Spanish soil. The Purworejo native finished first in Race 2 FIM JuniorGP class Moto3. Fadillah made history as the first Indonesian racer to win in the FIM JuniorGP event. What Fadillah achieved was only one of a series of achievements made by Indonesia on the world stage.

The racer who was born on July 14, 2005, also set another record after stepping on the highest podium for the first time in the second season of JuniorGP. Not only was the first Indonesian racer to win at the FIM Junior GP, Fadillah Arbi Aditama was also the first Asian rider in the tournament this season.

The racer with the start 93 number is not the only one from Asia who has appeared in the Moto3 junior event for the 2023 season. Apart from Fadillah, there are still several Asian racers who have performed this year. They are the Thai duo Tactchakorn Buasr and Danial Shahril and the Japanese representatives Kotaro Uchuimi, Shinya Ezawa, Kanta Hamada, and Aoi Uezu.

"I hope this victory is not the first and last time, I will try to improve myself," said Arbi, in Jakarta, Monday (24/7/2023).

I returned to Europe on August 14th. There were already a series of preparations that had to be undertaken. My target is to keep my achievements. So the remaining two series in JuniorGP I am trying to secure the top five positions for each series," said Arbi again.

After successfully playing Indonesia Raya in Catalunya, Fadillah Arbi Aditama still has another big dream, namely being the first Indonesian racer to fight in the MotoGP class. However, he realized that it would take time and work hard to realize his dream of asphalting in the world's most elite motorcycle racing event. His closest target now is to penetrate the Grand Prix in Moto3 next season.

My biggest dream is of course to be the first Indonesian to be able to race in the MotoGP class. My target is that. For next year, I want to go to the Grand Prix in Moto3 from myself. But there is no certainty. I am ready [to Moto3], the motorbike is the same as this one," said Arbi added.

Actually, Fadillah Arbi Aditama is not the only one who managed to bring the Red and White flag to the highest pole in the world arena. Last July, the Indonesian Volleyball Team also won the first series of the 2023 SEA V League. This is the first time the Indonesian Men's Volleyball Team has won volleyball in Southeast Asia. The Red and White team managed to beat the Thai team with a convincing score, 3-1.

The Indonesian national team also won proud achievements in the field of sports which won the gold medal in the 2023 SEA Games in Cambodia. The Garuda Muda team defeated Thailand in the final with a convincing score, 5-2.

This also ended a long wait of 32 years to win a gold medal in the ASEAN sporting tournament. The Indonesian contingent finished third in the final standings of the 2023 SEA Games with 87 gold, 80 silver, and 109 bronze medals.

The achievements that have been successfully inscribed by the nation's children are not only from the sports sector. Indonesian students also showed off in various international scientific competitions.

The Indonesian student team brought home three gold medals and two silver medals after fighting in the 2023 International Economic Olympics (IEO) which was held in Greece from July 24 to August 2. Indonesia ranks second in the overall champion event which was attended by 50 countries.

Other Indonesian students made the nation proud at the Physics Olympics in Tokyo, Japan in mid-July. The Indonesian team competed with 394 participants from 80 countries.

They won two silver medals, one bronze and twohonourable mentions. In the field of mathematics, Indonesian students who competed in the 64th International Mathematics Olympics in Chiba, Japan, presented one silver medal, three bronze medals and threehonourable mentions.

In the Annual Session of the MPR RI and the Joint Session of the DPR RI and DPD RI in 2023 at the MPR/DPR/DPD RI Building, Jakarta, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) also revealed a series of Indonesian achievements. He said Indonesia succeeded in reducing stunting or malnutrition to 21.6 percent and increasing the Human Development Index (HDI) to 72.9 in 2022.

"Improving the Human Development Index to 72.9 in 2022, increasing the Gender Empowerment Index to 76.5 in 2022, and preparing a total social protection budget from 2015 to 2023 of IDR 3.212 trillion," said President Jokowi in Jakarta, Wednesday (16/8/2023), quoted from Antara.

Previously, data from the World Bank stated that Indonesia rose to class as an upper-middle-income country in 2022. This is a progress considering that Indonesia is still a middle-lower-middle-income country in the previous year.

According to World Bank data, Indonesia's gross national income (GNI) per capita increased by around 9.8 percent on an annual basis, which was USD 4,580. A year earlier, the GNI per national capita was still at USD 4,170. Changes in Indonesia's revenue category occurred because the national economy grew 5.2 percent on an annual basis in 2022 according to the World Bank.

However, GNI per capita Indonesia in 2022 actually fell one level to fifth in Southeast Asia. Indonesia is below Singapore with a GNI per capita of 67,200 US dollars, Brunei Darussalam 31,410 US dollars, Malaysia 11,780 US dollars and Thailand 7,230 US dollars. Below Indonesia are Vietnam, the Philippines, and finally Myanmar.

But we need to realize that the goal towards gold Indonesia will not be easy. Especially considering the series of problems faced, ranging from uneven development, unemployment, quality of education, corruption that has always existed in every government, to the issue of gender equality that never ends.

The education sector is still one of the problems that need to be addressed, even though the government continues to seek equal distribution and the elimination of castization'. The zoning system, which has a noble goal as an effort to accelerate the equitable distribution of the quality of education throughout the country, has actually collapsed.

The system used since 2017 has become a loophole for fraudulent practices. President Jokowi signaled whether to continue or remove the zoning system in PPDB. In fact, like one of the characteristics of developed countries is the high level of education.

In addition to education, the issue of gender equality is still a common concern in Indonesia. The Global Gender Gap Index shows that the top five positions are inhabited by developed countries. The first position was occupied by Iceland, followed by Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Germany. Meanwhile, Indonesia is ranked 87th out of 147 countries set by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

The issue of gender equality resurfaced when two Indonesian women, Yenny Wahid and the Governor of East Java Khofifah Indar Parawansa were mentioned as candidates for vice president in the presidential election next year. Psychologist Kasandra Putranto assessed that the entry of women to participate in politics and government in Indonesia is a positive signal for gender equality fighters.

"Some indications of the role of women are increasingly recognized by having the opportunity to participate in politics and government in Indonesia, this can be interpreted as that the struggle for gender equality is increasingly manifested by the openness of opportunities for women," Kasandra Putranto told VOI.

Another perception is that this can also be interpreted as an even more eroded patriarchal culture in Indonesia. Therefore patriarchal culture is still a relevant issue in Indonesia to continue to strive for in order to achieve better gender equality," Kasandra added.

Another good news is the problem of stunting which continues to be a concern. The Indonesian government continues to make various efforts to reduce stunting in recent years.

In January, the Ministry of Health announced the results of the Indonesian Nutrition Status Survey (SSGI) at the BKKBN National Working Meeting, stating that the prevalence of stunting in Indonesia fell from 24.4 percent in 2021 to 21.6 percent in 2022. But this figure is still above the World Health Organization (WHO) standard regarding stunting prevalence which must be at less than 20 percent.

The series of achievements made by Indonesia today can be one of the pillars of realizing the target of Indonesia Gold 2045. The National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) formulated four visions towards Indonesia Gold 2045, coinciding with its 100th independence anniversary.

When Indonesian Independence is one century old, one of the targets is that Indonesia's per capita income is targeted to be equivalent to developed countries. In realizing this dream, the vision of Indonesia was compiled in 2045 with four pillars, namely human development and mastery of science and technology, sustainable economic development, equitable development and strengthening national resilience, and government governance.

"Overall, Indonesia's 2045 vision embodies a better and evener level of welfare for the Indonesian people with higher quality, an Indonesian economy that has increased to become a developed country and one of the world's five largest economic powers, equitable equity in all areas of development, within the framework of the Sovereign and democratic Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia," the official website of Bappenas was quoted as saying.