Hopes and Dreams

We all have hopes of being someone when we were growing up: A flamboyant pop star, an astronaut, superman or superwoman, a doctor, a dazzlingly bemedalled general, a glamorous international model or simply to become insanely rich. Bhimanto Suwastoyo talks to everyday Jakarta young people about who they want to be.

Hopes and goals are supposed to be the things that motivate people to soldier on through life, if not guide them through it. As get older we may continue to be driven to excel by our goals, or simply drift on long-held hopes.

For young people in their late teens, hopes and goals are increasingly colored by the reality around them as they grow aware of their own limitations.

Recent high-school graduates Adi Wiratmoko and Slamet Subagyo, despite sharing the same age and background of the densely packed slums of Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, have set different goals.

"If you ask me about my hopes and goals in life, I used to have quite a lot of them, but now I basically just aspire to become someone who is successful in life," said Adi, 18.

"My goal in life is simple. I just want to get a job, a decent job with decent pay," said Slamet.

Both boys have ample reason to set moderate goals in life. Their families could not afford for them to continue their educations.

And how will they try to achieve their goals?

Silence.

"Well, I don't know. I will find a way," Adi finally answered hesitantly.

 Slamet’s situation is worse than his friend, with only his widowed mother to support a family of four.

 "The problem is that I’m still not sure about what I really want to do,” he said.

The young men have applied for jobs as cleaning service personnel, office boys and as shop attendants, all without success.

"Nobody wants high school graduates nowadays, because there are plenty of university graduates out there are searching for jobs," Adi said.

Slamet is philosophical about the situation, saying he and his friend are believers in "God the Merciful, and as long as we try, there shall be a way."

Both also took time to ponder the question of what they want for the future, but their answer was almost identical.  

 "I hope our country ... and the government think of us job seekers," said Slamet.

It’s a hope shared by Yuri Andria, 20, a short-haired girl who has just been hired as a security guard at an office building.

"I want to enter the police force, so that I can help make this country safer," Yuri said without hesitation.

 No aspirations to be rich and famous?

 "Nah. I always wanted to be a policewoman from very early on," she said, adding that her father was from the military.

Her good friend Hardiana, still delighted from a recent career move from building security personnel to receptionist, is more ambitious.

"I want to continue to advance in my career and become more and more successful. I think people are never satisfied in life and I too want to be more and more successful.”

She said she hoped to be able to realize her goals not only by hard work but also by knowing "the right people".

Hardiana said she hoped there would be more equitable distribution of wealth; Andria hoped that while Indonesia progressed, "the government should give more attention to providing enough jobs for the people".

Lofty goals are out of the question for Suwandi, 20. Too short to fulfill his dream of enlisting as a soldier, he works as a shop attendant in the Glodok commercial district.

"My real aim in life now is to have enough money to set up my own shop, no matter how small it is at the start.

"Oh, I will get there, I am certain. The question is just when and how fast," he said laughing.

Security is high on his list of concerns for the country's future.

"Something should be done against street crime. Reading the newspapers makes you afraid of leaving your home," said the resident of densely populated Kebon Kacang in Central Jakarta.

Risman, 17, jobless and with only a grade school education, has an even simpler dream.

"I want to become someone who can stand on my own two feet," he said while waiting on a Central Jakarta street to be picked up as a three-in-one jockey.

He left his home in Padang, West Sumatra, after finishing elementary school five years ago, and hitchhiked his way to the capital.

As well as working as a jockey, he helps direct traffic in Tanah Abang for small change from drivers. At night, he sleeps in a neighborhood mosque.

"It just gives me enough to eat, but not for anything else," said Risman, who added that the T-shirt he was wearing was one of two he owned.

"I came here hoping to get rich, to be able to surprise my parents by returning home with plenty of money.”

Shame prevents him from going home empty-handed. 

“I will have to be self-sufficient first before I go home.”

For Yani Suryana, 19, who hails from Jayaraksa, Sukabumi, the line between hopes and realistic goals is blurred.

"I want to own my own restaurant," he said.

But Yani, who has only had a brief two-month stint as a food stall attendant since leaving school last year, could not say how he planned to reach his goal.

His farming family is barely able to make ends meet, and his only occasional source of income is making deliveries for a neighboring tailor.    

"I hope that the country becomes rich and prosperous, so that I can also become rich and prosperous," he said.

Home