Ardito Ramadhan, Jakarta – The results of a Kompas survey on August 9-11 shows that the majority of respondents believe that the ideals of independence of advancing public welfare have not yet been realised.
Quoting from the Kompas Daily on Monday August 15, as many as 70.4 percent respondents stated that progress and prosperity for the ordinary people has not yet been achieved as the Indonesian Republic turns 77 years old this year.
Some 27.3 percent of respondents meanwhile believe that progress and prosperity for the ordinary people has been achieved, while 2.3 percent of respondents answered they did not know.
If broken down by generation, the majority of respondents from Gen Z (17-23 years), Gen Y (24-39 years), Gen X (40-55 years) and baby boomers (over 56 years) also believe that progress and prosperity for the ordinary people has not yet been achieved.
Meanwhile as many as 76.7 percent of baby boomer respondents stated that the goals of independence to bring prosperity to the ordinary people had not yet been realised.
The percentage of respondents from the other generations which are of the same opinion stands at around the same figure (over 70 percent), meanwhile "only" 59.1 percent of respondents from Gen Z articulated such a view.
Kompas Research & Development (Litbang Kompas) researcher Arita Nugraheni wrote that the government needs to genuinely respond to the public's anxiety about this by prioritising the interests of the ordinary people.
"Even worse, the number of respondents who feel that the situation is not ideal is more than two years ago", wrote Nugraheni in the Kompas Daily.
Nugraheni said that a Kompas survey in August 2020 recorded that 6 out of 10 respondents believe that progress and prosperity for the ordinary people had not yet been achieved.
On the other hand, the same survey showed that 65.8 percent of respondents admitted to being optimistic about the Indonesia becoming prosperous in the future.
Moreover, 13.4 percent of respondents claimed to be very optimistic, followed by pessimistic (13.2 percent), very pessimistic (2.9 percent) and don't know (4.7 percent).
"Meaning, public optimism welcomes recovery driven by concerns that the ideals of independence have not yet been achieved. The energy of the nation should be directed to realize a prosperous society", wrote Nugraheni.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Litbang 'Kompas': 77 Tahun Indonesia Merdeka, Mayoritas Anggap Rakyat Belum Maju dan Sejahtera".]
