Life may conspire to throw obstacles at us, but, in general, we Indonesians are an optimistic bunch — even if we’re starting to lower our expectations about what the future might bring.
A new survey by Gallup International Association, released yesterday, shows that Indonesians are generally optimistic about 2019. When asked, “do you think that 2019 will be better, worse or the same as 2018?”, 42% of Indonesians responded in the positive while only 8% were pessimistic, combining for a net score of +34.
While that score is relatively high and puts Indonesia somewhat within reach of the top spot (India, net score of +64), it’s a pretty huge plunge from our net score of +67 last year, which made us the most optimistic in the world then (and among the happiest too).
What caused the drop? Well, it may be that 2018, a year in which we saw numerous deadly natural disasters and terrorist attacks in Indonesia, has kept our expectations in check. It may also be that Indonesians are expecting more rifts among ourselves considering 2019 is an election year.
But if we’re a glass-half-full kind of people (as the survey suggests), we can at least be thankful that we’re not among the most pessimistic in the world — an unenviable list topped by Jordan (net score -48) and rounded out by Hong Kong (-25) in the top five.
For the survey, over 49,000 people from 51 countries and regions were quizzed between October and December for their views on the coming year. The results for Indonesia were based on a sample size of 1,040 people who responded to an online survey.
