From the traffic-clogged concrete jungle of Jakarta, it can sometimes be hard to remember that there are still large swathes of Indonesia that lack basic infrastructure like electricity, piped water and paved roads.
The government of President Joko Widodo has made infrastructure expansion one of its main focuses, which in the abstract sounds like a move motivated only by economic concerns, but photos like these illustrate the unexpected social benefits that new infrastructure can bring to people’s lives.
kebahagiaan yang sederhana adalah pembangunan yang merata. Adek² kita ini akhirnya merasakan apa yang namanya aspal, saking excitednya mereka sampe lepas sandal 😂👌.
tkp daerah Wates Wali Songo. pic.twitter.com/L31v7UcnbX
— 𝓜𝓪𝓼 𝓡𝓾𝓯𝓲 (@gothed) August 27, 2018
As described in the caption: “Simple happiness is equitable development. Our brothers and sisters can finally feel what this thing called asphalt is, they are so excited they took off their sandals 😂👌”
tambahin poto deh, biar seru 😍 pic.twitter.com/UOVRqBVOAB
— 𝓜𝓪𝓼 𝓡𝓾𝓯𝓲 (@gothed) August 27, 2018
Mas Rufi clarified in another tweet that the photos come from a village in the Wates province of Central Lampung.
The photos were posted by Mas Rufi on Sunday and quickly went viral with over 15,000 retweets, including one by Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo.
Mas Rufi joked that some people accused him of being a cebonger (a slang term for a supporter of President Joko Widodo) for posting the pictures, but the vast majority of comments on the photo were positive, with people praising it as a sign of the government’s progress on infrastructure development.
dan masih ada yg bilang kita tidak butuh infrastruktur..
— 𝙅𝙤.𝙣𝙖𝙥 (@jnessy_) August 27, 2018
“And there are those who still say we don’t need infrastructure”.
So without making this more political than it needs to be, let’s just say it makes us happy to see children happy for new things and enjoying them while they can (they’re probably going to learn pretty soon that lovely smooth asphalt can get really freakin’ hot when the sun is high).
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