Categorized | Special Interview

[GNFI Special] Alanda Kariza: I Am Proud Of Indonesia. Every inch Of It.

GNFI has the honor to present Alanda Kariza, a young writer who attracts many attentions. Alanda Kariza was born in Jakarta, February 23, 1991. She started writing in 2001 when she was a student in primary school. She became the school bulletin’s staff and won an essay writing competition at that time. In middle school, she started to write short stories and poems. Therefore, her debut novel, “Mint Chocolate Chips” (Terrant Books, 2005) was released when she was only 14 years old. Because of her work, she was trusted to be a contributor for 21-Degrees Magazine and freelance journalist for Gogirl! Magazine when she was studying in year 9.

Her works were also published in Hai and Bukuné Magazine when she had gotten into high school. Besides in writing, Alanda also received The Yayasan Pendidikan Jaya Awards (in the form of scholarship) twice and won the first place in Budi Luhur’s English Speech Competition. On June 2006, Alanda founded Komunitas Kepedulian Remaja Indonesia: The Cure For Tomorrow. Then, she was the youngest finalist in CosmoGIRL! of The Year 2006, dismissed the other 700 applicants.

GNFI interviewed her a week ago on some issues regarding Indonesia, and we’d love to share it with you. Here we go…

GNFI: How do you find Indonesia nowadays? You may take any angle to respond to this question.

Alanda: I have always seen Indonesia as a nation that I can be proud of. It has all of the potentials, and we are doing the things we can to optimise it, I believe. In terms of both natural and human resources, Indonesia has it all. It can even become a regional economic powerhouse if we keep on improving things as the days go by. Unfortunately, the thirst for power that a lot of politicians have might slow our progress a bit, or even more. There are a lot of genius people, but the others want to take them down—for power. The media also brings negativity and thrust it into people’s mind, which make even more people stop having faith in this country. I think the most important thing that we ought to have if we want to make Indonesia a great country is to think positively and start doing things, instead of whining. Nowadays, there are a lot of people who can only whine and transfer negative energy to others, and it’s far from good. We need to shift people’s mindset. As soon as we see Indonesia as a great nation, people from other countries will think the same way.

GNFI: What to do to develop Indonesia and make it at the same peer like China, or Brazil, for instance?

Alanda: Good question. I think the President needs to choose the best people possible to lead a few ministries that hold crucial issues: finance, education, environment, tourism, and youth and sports. Those are the promises of Indonesia and we need the best people who are able to optimize our potentials. Indonesia also needs to strengthen its current infrastructure, or even build the new ones. Having specialized cities also would stop Jakarta from becoming “the city of dreams” or “the city that has everything”. We also need to build other cities and provinces and drive people to want to live there.

GNFI: How do you see Indonesia in 30 years times to come?

Alanda: I see Indonesia as a great nation. If we can already be in the BRIICS, N-11, and G-20, I cannot even imagine how good Indonesia can be in 30 years. We have seen that young people are brilliant and promising. But, to achieve it, we also have to provide good education. I personally think that I have always been a misfit in Indonesia’s education system, because it does not allow me to try to find (and maximize) my passion from the very beginning. 30 years from now, there should be tons of schools for the misfits who have the ability to resilient.

GNFI: If you are a government official, what kinda position you prefer to hold? and why?

Alanda: The Minister of Education! Education is the foundation of a nation, and there are still a lot of things that have to be done to have a good education in Indonesia. I want to reduce the number of people who study overseas because they think that Indonesia’s education is not good enough and end up working in other countries. Yet, I also want to stop seeing children working on the street. We all deserve a good education, and the government is responsible for our education, as stated in the constitution. I would like to shift the education system, from “making machines” into “creating human intellects”.

GNFI: What kind of country do you want Indonesia to be like and why?

Alanda: I want Indonesia to be the center of environmental education in the world. It has natural resources that need to be preserved. By making it as the environmental center of the world, more people would study about Indonesia’s biodiversity, and at the same time, preserve it.

GNFI: Kindly share with us, what part of Indonesia you are proud of the most?

Alanda: Hmmm. Every inch of it. Well, except: corruption, terrorism, and crime, of course. We might not be well-developed yet, but I have faith in our way in developing Indonesia as long as we have the positive energy in mind, and in heart.

GNFI: Do you have any other views to share?

Alanda: Nope :)

GNFI: How did you find GNFI? Any suggestion for improvement?

Alanda: I forgot, I think from someone’s blog who has a link to Akhyari’s blog. I then started reading it daily, and spreading the news to Indonesian people, especially the youths. Because, youth are the ones who make the change :) .

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This post was posted by:

Akhyari - who has posted 749 posts on Good News From Indonesia.


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7 Responses to “[GNFI Special] Alanda Kariza: I Am Proud Of Indonesia. Every inch Of It.”

  1. Didit says:

    Wow…she’s so young and I’m to old :-)

  2. Alitha says:

    OH. MY. GOODNESS. Seriously?!?!?!?! She is now my new role model. Amazing. I’m a 14 year old Indonesian girl who’s hoping to be a writer, and to know that there is someone who got there… wow.

  3. Ian says:

    @Alitha:
    Now you know your dream is more visible and within reach. Work it up!
    Do you have your writing portfolio already?

  4. Alitha says:

    @Ian: Well…sort of. I mean, I have it, but not in an organized fashion just yet. It’s all jumbled up as of now.

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