Do you have a problem with Bu Susi? I don’t

Bu Susi (sitting, right | @ARistNugr)

After the announcement of the final Jokowi JK’s 34 ministers, public started to weigh on how this will impact on the development of the country. Some argue that the new government hasn’t made the best decision; some say it is the best for the country. Part of the former argument is that Jokowi-JK, the new administration has chosen a minister that has no undergrad diploma. Not even a high school diploma either. She only graduated from middle school!

Susi Pudjiastuti, the minister of Marine and Fisheries has been a trending topic all across Indonesia. She went to high school back then, but could not complete it. So practically, she only holds a middle school diploma, and she’s a minister right now!

A friend of mine, an undergrad diploma holder said, “You know what, one of our minister didn’t even graduate from high school! What this country is gonna be? What’s she gonna do?”

All I thought was, “Seriously? Did you just really say that?”

First of all, I really feel sorry for this friend. He totally overlooked an awful lot of things and ridiculously concluded that she will not work for the country. In fact, regardless her education background, she’s one of the most successful women in the country. She successfully runs her business in fishery. She exports many marine products to many countries like Japan and America.

Once she needed to ship lots of her products, she bought an aircraft. It helped the business grow and she just kept buying aircrafts. She eventually established an aviation company named Susi Air.

Another important fact is that her aircraft was the first transportation that could land in Aceh when it got terribly struck by the 2004 Tsunami. Susi Air landed foods and stuff for the victims when anybody else couldn’t help yet. My friend was totally blind of all of these.

Second of all, being a successful entrepreneur, she has not gotten any problems with the government. That means she just pays her tax regularly. And, of course both local and national government incomes have been benefitted by her contributions through the company.

Additionally, she surely helps the government reduce unemployment by employing people. Even though living with a middle school diploma, she has led so many people that have way better ‘education degree’. She employed many experts in marine products, I believe. And the fact is she employed hundreds of pilots, most of whom are foreigners.

With all of these facts, do you still think she’s a fool and just won’t do anything for the country as a minister? The fact is she has so much more contributions to many than those who have higher education levels, and I believe she just will not stop there.

It’s bad to judge people from how they look and the educational backgrounds they have. We have to see things differently. You can have super-duper high educations, and it’s good. But more importantly, it all won’t matter until you do and contribute to others, bring good changes for our communities and stuff.

Otherwise, we’ll wait for your contributions, Bu Susi! Way to go Bu!

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