The first most important thing to do is that we must be proud of our country. We live in the globalization era where the cultures from all around the world mixed with ours. Even, sometimes Indonesian youth these days has adopted those cultures and left our culture behind. Like the way they act, how they dress, and also their way of thinking.
They have been too influenced with the outside cultures and I am afraid that they will eventually forget their culture where they were first brought to. It is time we are proud of our own culture. It is an invaluable inheritance that must be preserved. If we open our mind to look closely, we will find that our culture is more exquisite than others. It is alright to adopt some of the outside cultures, but do not forget our hard earned culture.
Youth Pledge day reminds us, over and over again to realize that, even when the years has passed, even when we have already adopted many outside cultures, we have to be proud of our country, the place where we were born.
And if we are already proud of our country, then the next step is easy, dream high. Yes, it might be not related at a first glance. After all, what benefit would our dream bring to the country. But our proud feeling, whether we know it or not, will influence our thinking, and consequently, our dreams.
Say that one of my friends here wants to be a doctor. Someday she or he will become a doctor. A doctor who is proud of her or his country will do the best on his or her work and will then make the country proud. It is really a nice circle, isn’t it.