Assalamualaikum and good day all…
From year to year.. In this development era currently, our beloved nation, The Republic of Indonesia, is always encountered with a tend-to-increase needs . it covers many aspects in association with reality that never does the development go on except it has many fields to deal with, except the general election in the USA..from health to education, and even from economics to infrastructure.. these kinds of fields are costly to be well-developed.. but it is a necessity………
And Tax, is the only major source levied by state to fund this continuous process. in this case we have Directorate General of Taxation (let’s call it DGT..), to administer this mandate. in every single beginning of year, the state always targets a number of rupiahs needed to be collected by DGT. And for your information, from The Time Series Analysis i have, the target has a trend to get higher and higher than previous years..
Happy Toastmasters and guests..You can say that DGT has a heavier duty from year to year, it is true..You can say that DGT has a shopisticated task to conduct, it is also true…and it is absolutely true if You say that, as an employee of DGT, i deserve for higher salary.. (:D)
Ladies and Gentlemens..Please take a look at this chart..you see that if we drag a straight line and make a linkage line above these points, we will get a linear line with a positive direction showing that the number of rupiahs ever collected and coming next one are always getting higher than ever. the higher the target, the harder the efforts commited.
Now, no less than 2months from now on,.. we are going to leave 2008, and the good news for all of us here is the fact that the target determined for this year is reachable, we meet the target, and it can be possible to be happened because of the God’s benevolent and solid cooperation and hardwork both citizens and DGT.
hopefully we can keep this harmonious condition to fullfill the tax revenue target determined for the year of 2009, we know it is not an easy thing to reach but with the unity we can commit to realize it, we hope for an adjacent life, with no unjustice and poverty for all of citizens of Republic of Indonesia.. we go along with a sincere tendency and pure willingness, not with fraud or deceptive, to meet the target and always try to perform our best, may God bless us..
Now, let us drink to our success for this year and our effort next years… may we meet the target again!!!Happy Toastmaster……….
Minggu, 15 Maret 2009
There Is A Parting In Every Meeting
Assalamualaikum and dear all..
whenever you pass your days, I am sure that you have something always going along with you, as I have. This thing comes in advanced before my eyes, it is a tool assisting me to see something away, an eye glasses. You all may have a unique story related to the thing, as I have too..because I have my own tale with my eye glasses, that I am going to tell you here..
Currently, I become different than my peers since I am an eye-glass boy, I don’t know exactly, how I could be in my life, it is probably a genetic gene derived from my mother, she ever told me that she had been an eye-glass woman since she was in basic school. Could you imagine that? And how about me? That was in the middle of 2002 when I felt something unwell with my sight, even I already sat in the first row in the class, I could not see clearly what written in the blackboard was. But at that time I did not pay my attention well, I just considered that usual that would heal itself within several days later.
Unfortunately, my sight was getting worse, I just was at the third grade in my senior high school when I discovered whatever I saw away would be blurry. Really good then actually if I wore an eye glasses at that time but I just neglected the suggestion. Until finally when I entered college, not much too my despair, I had an internist check my eyes normality. The result showed that I had better wear an eye glasses in order to avert more bad impact, my eyes was already -2,5 D, a myope then. Knowing about that, I decided to wear it, I still remembered the price of my first eye-glasses that was Rp. 230.000, my uncle brought that for me. The optic store was located in Bogor city, West Java. Form here I undergo my life as an eye-glass guy, until now.
Above was the story telling you the tale leading me to use this thing and how I could get my first eye-glasses. That first eye glasses really helped me study during my college time until I had my internship program in November 2005, it was no more in use because my carelessness L , once upon a day, when I was at my dorm, I read a book then I put my eye glasses down before my stuffs, I realized then, I was not be able to see well without my eye glasses, when I stood up to seek it, I discovered nothing, I just searched for it nowhere, just around my room, but.. when I felt rough under my foot, slowly and nervously I bowed my head to see what that was. L L I was shocked then since apparently I was standing while footing above my eye-glasses. I took it and made sure that the thing was the eye glasses belong to me. Yes, there was no doubth, that was the thing I searched for. After having this accident, I need to have the new one, because the old did not deserve to user, the frame was broken and the mirror was loose from the scrub.
It is too heavy for me to work without my eye glasses but at that time I had to. I was in an internship program at Pratama Palmerah Service Tax Office, after work hour I went to Slipi Bridge to buy a new glasses, as I remembered we could buy several priceless stuffs, in fake edition for sure :P, in there, including the eye glasses I need. Yes, that was not difficult for me to bargain with the trader to reach the cheapest price suit my budget. My 2nd eye-glasses, I bought at Slipi Bridge, was about Rp 25.000 only J and again, it was in fake form. It did not matter for me but my sight did matter. This 2nd series accompanied my adventure during my time as an trainee then as I was positioned as an civil servant I chose to buy a better one, the origin product I meant :D, and then as I planned, in a night I went to Plaza Tendean near to my old dorm in Mampang Residency, shout Jakarta. In there, I stopped by ‘Optik Cahaya’ and I bought a new one, I still just remained confused if I flashback to that moment when I bargain for my 3rd eye glasses, its frame, a brown and white straight strip, was up to Rp600.000 and the lenses itself cost me for about Rp200.000 L, its sum was round Rp800.000,- an I just agreed that. Too extravagant, too irrational if I may say to myself then, but I am losing my normal, I bought it, mostly my friends commented on my 3rd eye-glasses that it was pretty nice, suit me as well. J heal my sadness caused my foolish really. No less than 3 months after having that new one, something bad happened to me again. In an afternoon I had a Ashar Pray in a Masjid close from my dorm. As usual, when I prayed I put my glasses on my Sajadah, before my foot. Until I completed my pray, everything run well. I just stayed for several minutes after praying and when I was really in my deep focused when a big guy came to walk in front of me and unintentionally footed my 800.000-rhupiah eye glasses, there was no doubt, the glasses broken in many sides, I became angry then and I wanted to sue him, but I know that I just an non-native resident and he also footed It with no acknowledgement, then I went home while bringing a long my furious. I still recalled what people used to say about this: ‘the stuff could be too expensive for you to use then it avoided by itself in many ways you would not know’, I just laughed then.. J ….
Now I am still wearing my 4th eye-glasses, may be this one can go along with me for years, with no accident and incident occurred, amin.. J.. ok then, it is already midnight, I need to go to sleep, thanks then.. good night and assalamualaikum..
whenever you pass your days, I am sure that you have something always going along with you, as I have. This thing comes in advanced before my eyes, it is a tool assisting me to see something away, an eye glasses. You all may have a unique story related to the thing, as I have too..because I have my own tale with my eye glasses, that I am going to tell you here..
Currently, I become different than my peers since I am an eye-glass boy, I don’t know exactly, how I could be in my life, it is probably a genetic gene derived from my mother, she ever told me that she had been an eye-glass woman since she was in basic school. Could you imagine that? And how about me? That was in the middle of 2002 when I felt something unwell with my sight, even I already sat in the first row in the class, I could not see clearly what written in the blackboard was. But at that time I did not pay my attention well, I just considered that usual that would heal itself within several days later.
Unfortunately, my sight was getting worse, I just was at the third grade in my senior high school when I discovered whatever I saw away would be blurry. Really good then actually if I wore an eye glasses at that time but I just neglected the suggestion. Until finally when I entered college, not much too my despair, I had an internist check my eyes normality. The result showed that I had better wear an eye glasses in order to avert more bad impact, my eyes was already -2,5 D, a myope then. Knowing about that, I decided to wear it, I still remembered the price of my first eye-glasses that was Rp. 230.000, my uncle brought that for me. The optic store was located in Bogor city, West Java. Form here I undergo my life as an eye-glass guy, until now.
Above was the story telling you the tale leading me to use this thing and how I could get my first eye-glasses. That first eye glasses really helped me study during my college time until I had my internship program in November 2005, it was no more in use because my carelessness L , once upon a day, when I was at my dorm, I read a book then I put my eye glasses down before my stuffs, I realized then, I was not be able to see well without my eye glasses, when I stood up to seek it, I discovered nothing, I just searched for it nowhere, just around my room, but.. when I felt rough under my foot, slowly and nervously I bowed my head to see what that was. L L I was shocked then since apparently I was standing while footing above my eye-glasses. I took it and made sure that the thing was the eye glasses belong to me. Yes, there was no doubth, that was the thing I searched for. After having this accident, I need to have the new one, because the old did not deserve to user, the frame was broken and the mirror was loose from the scrub.
It is too heavy for me to work without my eye glasses but at that time I had to. I was in an internship program at Pratama Palmerah Service Tax Office, after work hour I went to Slipi Bridge to buy a new glasses, as I remembered we could buy several priceless stuffs, in fake edition for sure :P, in there, including the eye glasses I need. Yes, that was not difficult for me to bargain with the trader to reach the cheapest price suit my budget. My 2nd eye-glasses, I bought at Slipi Bridge, was about Rp 25.000 only J and again, it was in fake form. It did not matter for me but my sight did matter. This 2nd series accompanied my adventure during my time as an trainee then as I was positioned as an civil servant I chose to buy a better one, the origin product I meant :D, and then as I planned, in a night I went to Plaza Tendean near to my old dorm in Mampang Residency, shout Jakarta. In there, I stopped by ‘Optik Cahaya’ and I bought a new one, I still just remained confused if I flashback to that moment when I bargain for my 3rd eye glasses, its frame, a brown and white straight strip, was up to Rp600.000 and the lenses itself cost me for about Rp200.000 L, its sum was round Rp800.000,- an I just agreed that. Too extravagant, too irrational if I may say to myself then, but I am losing my normal, I bought it, mostly my friends commented on my 3rd eye-glasses that it was pretty nice, suit me as well. J heal my sadness caused my foolish really. No less than 3 months after having that new one, something bad happened to me again. In an afternoon I had a Ashar Pray in a Masjid close from my dorm. As usual, when I prayed I put my glasses on my Sajadah, before my foot. Until I completed my pray, everything run well. I just stayed for several minutes after praying and when I was really in my deep focused when a big guy came to walk in front of me and unintentionally footed my 800.000-rhupiah eye glasses, there was no doubt, the glasses broken in many sides, I became angry then and I wanted to sue him, but I know that I just an non-native resident and he also footed It with no acknowledgement, then I went home while bringing a long my furious. I still recalled what people used to say about this: ‘the stuff could be too expensive for you to use then it avoided by itself in many ways you would not know’, I just laughed then.. J ….
Now I am still wearing my 4th eye-glasses, may be this one can go along with me for years, with no accident and incident occurred, amin.. J.. ok then, it is already midnight, I need to go to sleep, thanks then.. good night and assalamualaikum..
A Gag at National Monument,Monas
Assalamualaikum and Dear all..
Some people are good at knowing the spots and the routes , otherwise some are not. And I was , once ever, to be the second type. A few days ago my old friends, along with his colleagues, came to stay for several days at my dorm, they were on vacation actually to kill their day-off. It is rare for them to visit Jakarta, so that I decided to take them to have a look, everything was ok in the 1st day, because I didn’t guide them directly as we had a new friend taking us by a blue-chevrolet car to anywhere we wanted.
In the 2nd day, I planned to let them see a national monument, renowned as nation symbol, most said in a coaxing word that you would be considered having not been to Jakarta if you haven’t seen this plush tower . having an experience to enjoy free-car day at the fourth week in a month, surreptitiously i just thought to invite them join that. Well. From all that schedule, I had a way to go. In a morning I woke them up, it could be earlier than they had usually, but since we were on the path to spend the fresh-air in the morning, I’d better ask them to be ready. We leaved my dorm toward the national symbol, called Monas, by having a busway. But I had planned not to drop them directly close to the national building, a little bit distant in order to invite them enjoying free-car day.
We had the bus dropped us in a halte so close with the road where the free-car day conducted. Still, they didn’t know about that, but I was jittery because when I already reached that road, I saw there were many cars and four-wheel vehicles in a traffic as usual, so I kept asking myself, ‘where is the free-car day?’ then I approached a man then asked him, and he answered that the moment I planned to see, is only conducted on Monday, and as I and my friends were having a jogging on Saturday, it was impossible for us to see that. Then I imagined what we were in a long way to reach Monas, only walked through the pavement along Medan Merdeka Street, it would feel boring, really. The worse thing for me is the nightmarish that it will diminish their nice portent to me, it is just the same as that I will have something menacing my credit as a four-year resident living in Jakarta. But I concealed with my frightening then. To kept the time short, I preferred to take a Taxi to be faster to arrive at Monas. Then we got in to a Blue-Bird Taxi, and I told the driver to stop us at Monas, from that moment I was just in one of the most embarrassing moments in my life, because not more 50 steps from the spot we had the taxi, we would already arrive Monas, I shock, I remembered that Monas was located in Medan Merdeka street too, West Medan Merdeka exactly, meanwhile we had just passed through the shout Medan Merdeka. I had to pay the minimum tariff to the tax then that was Rp.10.000,00. Even we just spent Rp6.000,00 for its charge.
I did apologize to my friends then I told them that sometimes I couldn’t easily remind a place and how to get it, they just retained their LOL then, I knew it. And also I realized that it will be linger within their memory that when they had a vacation in Jakarta, they had ever a smart guide, leading them to Monas by having a Taxi, although they were already 50 steps more to reach it.
Ok, see you around…
Wassalamualaikum
Some people are good at knowing the spots and the routes , otherwise some are not. And I was , once ever, to be the second type. A few days ago my old friends, along with his colleagues, came to stay for several days at my dorm, they were on vacation actually to kill their day-off. It is rare for them to visit Jakarta, so that I decided to take them to have a look, everything was ok in the 1st day, because I didn’t guide them directly as we had a new friend taking us by a blue-chevrolet car to anywhere we wanted.
In the 2nd day, I planned to let them see a national monument, renowned as nation symbol, most said in a coaxing word that you would be considered having not been to Jakarta if you haven’t seen this plush tower . having an experience to enjoy free-car day at the fourth week in a month, surreptitiously i just thought to invite them join that. Well. From all that schedule, I had a way to go. In a morning I woke them up, it could be earlier than they had usually, but since we were on the path to spend the fresh-air in the morning, I’d better ask them to be ready. We leaved my dorm toward the national symbol, called Monas, by having a busway. But I had planned not to drop them directly close to the national building, a little bit distant in order to invite them enjoying free-car day.
We had the bus dropped us in a halte so close with the road where the free-car day conducted. Still, they didn’t know about that, but I was jittery because when I already reached that road, I saw there were many cars and four-wheel vehicles in a traffic as usual, so I kept asking myself, ‘where is the free-car day?’ then I approached a man then asked him, and he answered that the moment I planned to see, is only conducted on Monday, and as I and my friends were having a jogging on Saturday, it was impossible for us to see that. Then I imagined what we were in a long way to reach Monas, only walked through the pavement along Medan Merdeka Street, it would feel boring, really. The worse thing for me is the nightmarish that it will diminish their nice portent to me, it is just the same as that I will have something menacing my credit as a four-year resident living in Jakarta. But I concealed with my frightening then. To kept the time short, I preferred to take a Taxi to be faster to arrive at Monas. Then we got in to a Blue-Bird Taxi, and I told the driver to stop us at Monas, from that moment I was just in one of the most embarrassing moments in my life, because not more 50 steps from the spot we had the taxi, we would already arrive Monas, I shock, I remembered that Monas was located in Medan Merdeka street too, West Medan Merdeka exactly, meanwhile we had just passed through the shout Medan Merdeka. I had to pay the minimum tariff to the tax then that was Rp.10.000,00. Even we just spent Rp6.000,00 for its charge.
I did apologize to my friends then I told them that sometimes I couldn’t easily remind a place and how to get it, they just retained their LOL then, I knew it. And also I realized that it will be linger within their memory that when they had a vacation in Jakarta, they had ever a smart guide, leading them to Monas by having a Taxi, although they were already 50 steps more to reach it.
Ok, see you around…
Wassalamualaikum
Seeing The Unseen
Assalamualaikum and Good Day All
What do you want to be in the future, my dearest son? (while jumping) the kid replied : ‘I want to be a Pilot, daddy as I want to set my foot on the moon’ then the daddy said :’wow my dearest son, will you pick me up to go along with you there?’ the kid then responded by nodding his head cheerfully.
Do we still remember when for the first time we were asked about what our idea was? We might have many things in mind, but only one will be chosen and the chosen thing always hangs on before our head until we are in an adolescence age.
Ladies and gentleman… Honorable Judges… Contest Chair…
Since I was in Junior High School, I was fond of being a doctor, even to be a doctor always comes as my final answer whenever my friends proposed me a question : ‘Hi.. Erikson what is your idea in the future?’ I just confidently replied to them : ’Doctor… Doctor… and Doctor !!!’. never every minutes and hours of my school time elapsed, except I always passed it with studying,
lots of moments to be with my friends, I wasted!! lots of moments to care about others, I casted !! even a piece of minutes to think of another choices, I didn’t take!! until at the end of my study in senior high school, the bliss and the bite came together into my life.
the blissfulness came to me on behalf of a letter of acceptance to the one of state universities in my country, and majoring in medicine..
I was really excited, I shouted, ‘mom.. dad.. come on take a look at this.. a letter of acceptance from university.. I was accepted.. I will be a doctor, your son will be a doctor!! ‘
they were really happy too, It is shined from their eyes.. but after a moment of silence, we were bitten by a fact, a fact that the cost we had to provide was unaffordable, too expensive and too high. In a desperate, I’d got to burry my dream, and kept thinking of reasons, why it happened to me!! And I just said to my self that time alone would tell.
Ladies and Gentleman…
As the time passed, i still can not be able to forget my disappointment, even at the same time I was already a student of the first diploma degree at state college of accountancy… after several years, I found that the forced choice I took had saved my life and my family, after a year studied in state college of accountancy I was posted in one of government institution, I can make some money and help my parent and even I can fund my own continuation school to the higher level, I just feel grateful to God Almighty for these blessings and regret all my cursing and impudent words in the past. All of these things is the things I should see in advanced actually, but at that time I just could see nothing but darkening shadows before me.
Ladies and gentleman…
It is very devastating to face the reality that we are no more on the way we do expect, we are getting away from our idea we determined , we may ask ourselves : ‘o what is this?.. I don’t suppose to be here, it is not the place I belong’. Those who are very ambitious in pursuing their ideas will be in depression like this in a very long time, they just regretted, cursed and even looked for scapegoat to blame for.. But actually that is not the way the thing goes in our life, when we set one idea leading us to be what we want to be, at the same time we are pointing a certain door which we believe as an entrance showing us to the future we dream…
Mostly all of us will stay focused on the door we have picked, meanwhile another doors will be neglected, all the efforts made to open the door sometimes are not followed by a preparation to face a failure, so that when we find out all efforts we made did not work, the world just become darker and darker.
Ladies and gentleman , there are many things provided for us in this world, they are visible things actually but all the ambitions and blindness of heart to one thing make them unseen, we just need to be ready for a failure or unexpected results whenever we make efforts, by doing so… , we can see the others door opened for us…
The thing behind the door may be a different thing from what we want, but believe it or not, it is the best thing for our life… and it can lead us to the success if we heartily release the thing we cannot reach, just let the dreams we cannot realize disappear with the wind and enter the new world with a new hope from another doors… and as we undergo our life inside the door, sooner or later we will discover a reason why God opens the door for us..
Contest Chair…
What do you want to be in the future, my dearest son? (while jumping) the kid replied : ‘I want to be a Pilot, daddy as I want to set my foot on the moon’ then the daddy said :’wow my dearest son, will you pick me up to go along with you there?’ the kid then responded by nodding his head cheerfully.
Do we still remember when for the first time we were asked about what our idea was? We might have many things in mind, but only one will be chosen and the chosen thing always hangs on before our head until we are in an adolescence age.
Ladies and gentleman… Honorable Judges… Contest Chair…
Since I was in Junior High School, I was fond of being a doctor, even to be a doctor always comes as my final answer whenever my friends proposed me a question : ‘Hi.. Erikson what is your idea in the future?’ I just confidently replied to them : ’Doctor… Doctor… and Doctor !!!’. never every minutes and hours of my school time elapsed, except I always passed it with studying,
lots of moments to be with my friends, I wasted!! lots of moments to care about others, I casted !! even a piece of minutes to think of another choices, I didn’t take!! until at the end of my study in senior high school, the bliss and the bite came together into my life.
the blissfulness came to me on behalf of a letter of acceptance to the one of state universities in my country, and majoring in medicine..
I was really excited, I shouted, ‘mom.. dad.. come on take a look at this.. a letter of acceptance from university.. I was accepted.. I will be a doctor, your son will be a doctor!! ‘
they were really happy too, It is shined from their eyes.. but after a moment of silence, we were bitten by a fact, a fact that the cost we had to provide was unaffordable, too expensive and too high. In a desperate, I’d got to burry my dream, and kept thinking of reasons, why it happened to me!! And I just said to my self that time alone would tell.
Ladies and Gentleman…
As the time passed, i still can not be able to forget my disappointment, even at the same time I was already a student of the first diploma degree at state college of accountancy… after several years, I found that the forced choice I took had saved my life and my family, after a year studied in state college of accountancy I was posted in one of government institution, I can make some money and help my parent and even I can fund my own continuation school to the higher level, I just feel grateful to God Almighty for these blessings and regret all my cursing and impudent words in the past. All of these things is the things I should see in advanced actually, but at that time I just could see nothing but darkening shadows before me.
Ladies and gentleman…
It is very devastating to face the reality that we are no more on the way we do expect, we are getting away from our idea we determined , we may ask ourselves : ‘o what is this?.. I don’t suppose to be here, it is not the place I belong’. Those who are very ambitious in pursuing their ideas will be in depression like this in a very long time, they just regretted, cursed and even looked for scapegoat to blame for.. But actually that is not the way the thing goes in our life, when we set one idea leading us to be what we want to be, at the same time we are pointing a certain door which we believe as an entrance showing us to the future we dream…
Mostly all of us will stay focused on the door we have picked, meanwhile another doors will be neglected, all the efforts made to open the door sometimes are not followed by a preparation to face a failure, so that when we find out all efforts we made did not work, the world just become darker and darker.
Ladies and gentleman , there are many things provided for us in this world, they are visible things actually but all the ambitions and blindness of heart to one thing make them unseen, we just need to be ready for a failure or unexpected results whenever we make efforts, by doing so… , we can see the others door opened for us…
The thing behind the door may be a different thing from what we want, but believe it or not, it is the best thing for our life… and it can lead us to the success if we heartily release the thing we cannot reach, just let the dreams we cannot realize disappear with the wind and enter the new world with a new hope from another doors… and as we undergo our life inside the door, sooner or later we will discover a reason why God opens the door for us..
Contest Chair…
Sunset Policy
Sunset Policy
Please tell us, what the meaning of SunsetPolicy is.
Sunset Policy is a giving taxation facility policy , only applied for the year of 2008, that is to do the abolition of the taxation administrative penalty including interest as it is regulated within article 37A of the consolidation of law of the Republic Indonesia number 28 of 2007 concerning general provisions and tax procedures.
….hopefully, this policy can be a starting point to grow up the trust between the government and the citizens (tax payers). And for our information, at the beginning this policy had triggered many controversies but as the time passed all parties can understand what this policy held for, they positively responded it and just for accommodating their exciting participation, now DGT has prolonged this policy up to February 2009.
What is actually the background of this policy?
Law number 28 of 2007 enables The Directorate General of Taxes to gather the taxation data and to obligate government institutions, boards, associations and others parties to give the data to DGT. This stipulation has enabled DGT to know the untruth of the taxation obligation fulfillment conducted by the citizens. To evade the citizens from the determination of the taxation penalty rising if they do not administer their taxation obligation well, DGT in the year of 2008, gives an enormous opportunities to the citizens to start fulfilling their taxation obligation honestly with no coercion and to do it well.
….DGT hopes for the frankness from the citizens in reporting their tax obligation within their tax written, so that by applying this, and as it is expected that way, by having this opportunity, the citizens are allowed to report their unreported data by reporting it in correction tax written. Through this mechanism, the side effect this state will gain is the increasing of the revenue from taxation, tax income exactly and else that DGT will have plenty of better data.
As you informed before, that the main goal of this policy is to mending the taxation data through the correction reporting, with no administrative penalty for those doing so, apparently, what for the data will be used by DGT? and how does DGT cope with many opinions remarking that this policy is just the same with the deceit to trap the citizens later?
DGT has an authority to issue Tax Payer Identification number(NPWP) directly without the taxpayers’ acknowledgement when known that they are already qualified both subjectivity and objectivity requirementsbut they do not do registration, the clear and complete data will help DGT own sufficient proves to do so. So that do not expect for an escape, they will be detected.
And for our information, sunset policy is not a trap, even this program shows the trust given by DGT to the tax payers , there is no way to do a trapping since all the decrees and stipulations formed to create a law protection and easiness for the taxpayers to complete their right and obligation in taxation. And the vital thing is their fairness, frankness and clearness in filling and reporting their tax written or its correction. It is clear that the tax written submitted to DGT cannot be used as a base to issue the notice of tax assessment.
…after the sunset policy ends up, DGT will intensify tax investigation based on data it has, and if it is proved that the taxpayers do a cheat in their tax written, it will become DGT’s duty to investigate and punish them withpenalties, so if you all want to have a deep sleep indeed, please fill your tax written correctly, completely and clearly.
One more question, who can apply for Sunset Policy?
Personals who haven’t had TIN yet, who are in the year of 2008 heartily register themselves to own it and report their annual tax written for the taxable year of 2007 and the previous years no later than March 31, 2009.
Personals and corporate taxpayers who already have TIN priorto the year of 2008, delivering S their correction annual tax written for the taxable year of 2006 and the previous years to report the uncalculated and the unreported income within the previous tax written.
Please tell us, what the meaning of SunsetPolicy is.
Sunset Policy is a giving taxation facility policy , only applied for the year of 2008, that is to do the abolition of the taxation administrative penalty including interest as it is regulated within article 37A of the consolidation of law of the Republic Indonesia number 28 of 2007 concerning general provisions and tax procedures.
….hopefully, this policy can be a starting point to grow up the trust between the government and the citizens (tax payers). And for our information, at the beginning this policy had triggered many controversies but as the time passed all parties can understand what this policy held for, they positively responded it and just for accommodating their exciting participation, now DGT has prolonged this policy up to February 2009.
What is actually the background of this policy?
Law number 28 of 2007 enables The Directorate General of Taxes to gather the taxation data and to obligate government institutions, boards, associations and others parties to give the data to DGT. This stipulation has enabled DGT to know the untruth of the taxation obligation fulfillment conducted by the citizens. To evade the citizens from the determination of the taxation penalty rising if they do not administer their taxation obligation well, DGT in the year of 2008, gives an enormous opportunities to the citizens to start fulfilling their taxation obligation honestly with no coercion and to do it well.
….DGT hopes for the frankness from the citizens in reporting their tax obligation within their tax written, so that by applying this, and as it is expected that way, by having this opportunity, the citizens are allowed to report their unreported data by reporting it in correction tax written. Through this mechanism, the side effect this state will gain is the increasing of the revenue from taxation, tax income exactly and else that DGT will have plenty of better data.
As you informed before, that the main goal of this policy is to mending the taxation data through the correction reporting, with no administrative penalty for those doing so, apparently, what for the data will be used by DGT? and how does DGT cope with many opinions remarking that this policy is just the same with the deceit to trap the citizens later?
DGT has an authority to issue Tax Payer Identification number(NPWP) directly without the taxpayers’ acknowledgement when known that they are already qualified both subjectivity and objectivity requirementsbut they do not do registration, the clear and complete data will help DGT own sufficient proves to do so. So that do not expect for an escape, they will be detected.
And for our information, sunset policy is not a trap, even this program shows the trust given by DGT to the tax payers , there is no way to do a trapping since all the decrees and stipulations formed to create a law protection and easiness for the taxpayers to complete their right and obligation in taxation. And the vital thing is their fairness, frankness and clearness in filling and reporting their tax written or its correction. It is clear that the tax written submitted to DGT cannot be used as a base to issue the notice of tax assessment.
…after the sunset policy ends up, DGT will intensify tax investigation based on data it has, and if it is proved that the taxpayers do a cheat in their tax written, it will become DGT’s duty to investigate and punish them withpenalties, so if you all want to have a deep sleep indeed, please fill your tax written correctly, completely and clearly.
One more question, who can apply for Sunset Policy?
Personals who haven’t had TIN yet, who are in the year of 2008 heartily register themselves to own it and report their annual tax written for the taxable year of 2007 and the previous years no later than March 31, 2009.
Personals and corporate taxpayers who already have TIN priorto the year of 2008, delivering S their correction annual tax written for the taxable year of 2006 and the previous years to report the uncalculated and the unreported income within the previous tax written.
Dreams From My Father
Assalamualaikum and Good day all..
Tuhan tolonglah sampaikan sejuta sayangku untuknya…Ku terus berjanji takkan khianati pintanya…
Ayah dengarlah betapa sesungguhnya ku mencintaimu…Kan kubuktikan ku mampu penuhi maumu…
The excerpt of that song kept echoing in my mind when I tramped to my hometown, and even when I was on my own solitude.. the song addressed to all fathers in the world and to my father as well.
As a good son I try to make a pride that goes to him, I know my father has a real fascination for the newest politic information happened in our country, so that i read a book authored by one of our president candidates, and I said to him : ‘’look daddy, this man is really good at writing, his writings indirectly teach me about what leadership is”. .. at that time, I hoped for a pride arising from his comments due to the fact that his son is reading a prestigious book. Then he remarked soberly : “Don’t you think he is campaigning, it is just a strategy to bolster his candidacy!!!” he left me in confusion, afterward I told my mother about the odd thing I had just had, and my mother gave me a tentative smile, while saying : “my son, you need to know your father is a proponent of another candidates” .
That was the thing, but no matter what, I know my father always keeps on loving his family.
My father now is a 54-year-old father, he is a family man, both his blue-veined hands are the blatant witness going along with his struggles to support his family needs, and he had been in this way when my grandfather died almost 30 years ago, my grandfather didn’t leave much properties that his descendants can living from. And as one of the older sons, my father was called to help his mother’s and his siblings’ live. Many things he did, and may be since then he became hardworking person, never does he stop from thinking what kinds of activities he can conduct in order to fulfill his responsibility, I would like to say that may be his principle is “the hardest thing to do in the world is doing nothing”. In the year of 1980s he would be happy whenever he saw his mother and his siblings , enjoyed the result of his hard-work, although it was just a little dinner for one night or a uniform school for his younger brothers and sisters. He loved to share to feel happy. Nowadays his happiness comes up when we all his children can get a better job to support our own life in the future so that it may evade us from the suffer he had ever had in the past. He once said to me : “I have a dream, I want to see you all get a proper job, or even if I can make you get it, I will make it.. I don’t want you to feel as I always feel as whole of my life.. so that please study as good as possible.. ”
One day I asked him a question : “Daddy, why did you do all the struggles and sacrifices to your family?” and then he answered : “That is what a man lives for.” I know somehow all the responsibilities he have are not easy to complete, sometimes at the balcony at our home I saw him pondering, and when I approached him and asked him what he was thinking about, he just said “nothing”. He could lie then, but the wrinkles on his forehead could not.
I am not who I am now without him, he is the one introducing me to English, he registered me to the one of English course institutions to learn English, he motivated me to study well at school and at home. And he supported all my plan to continue my school when I finished my senior high school, although I knew at that time he would not have enough money to let me enter university education, but with all ALLAH’s benevolent I was accepted in one of free of charge colleges, State College of Accounting.
Life is not as easy as we arrange, we need to survive with all the possible way we can make, and my father has already know the sweet and the sour in this life, he opens my insight about what actually life is, with all the obstacles I may face in the next coming days, only patience and submission to ALLAH which will help me to be in the direction I wish.
To my father in my hometown, I want to say my thanks and :
“Well, dad.. now you are already 54 years old.. may ALLAH.SWT always keeps you and guides you, i.. am proud to be your son, wish me luck to realize the dreams you have ever said, amin..”
Fellow Toastmasters..
Wassalamualaikum
Tuhan tolonglah sampaikan sejuta sayangku untuknya…Ku terus berjanji takkan khianati pintanya…
Ayah dengarlah betapa sesungguhnya ku mencintaimu…Kan kubuktikan ku mampu penuhi maumu…
The excerpt of that song kept echoing in my mind when I tramped to my hometown, and even when I was on my own solitude.. the song addressed to all fathers in the world and to my father as well.
As a good son I try to make a pride that goes to him, I know my father has a real fascination for the newest politic information happened in our country, so that i read a book authored by one of our president candidates, and I said to him : ‘’look daddy, this man is really good at writing, his writings indirectly teach me about what leadership is”. .. at that time, I hoped for a pride arising from his comments due to the fact that his son is reading a prestigious book. Then he remarked soberly : “Don’t you think he is campaigning, it is just a strategy to bolster his candidacy!!!” he left me in confusion, afterward I told my mother about the odd thing I had just had, and my mother gave me a tentative smile, while saying : “my son, you need to know your father is a proponent of another candidates” .
That was the thing, but no matter what, I know my father always keeps on loving his family.
My father now is a 54-year-old father, he is a family man, both his blue-veined hands are the blatant witness going along with his struggles to support his family needs, and he had been in this way when my grandfather died almost 30 years ago, my grandfather didn’t leave much properties that his descendants can living from. And as one of the older sons, my father was called to help his mother’s and his siblings’ live. Many things he did, and may be since then he became hardworking person, never does he stop from thinking what kinds of activities he can conduct in order to fulfill his responsibility, I would like to say that may be his principle is “the hardest thing to do in the world is doing nothing”. In the year of 1980s he would be happy whenever he saw his mother and his siblings , enjoyed the result of his hard-work, although it was just a little dinner for one night or a uniform school for his younger brothers and sisters. He loved to share to feel happy. Nowadays his happiness comes up when we all his children can get a better job to support our own life in the future so that it may evade us from the suffer he had ever had in the past. He once said to me : “I have a dream, I want to see you all get a proper job, or even if I can make you get it, I will make it.. I don’t want you to feel as I always feel as whole of my life.. so that please study as good as possible.. ”
One day I asked him a question : “Daddy, why did you do all the struggles and sacrifices to your family?” and then he answered : “That is what a man lives for.” I know somehow all the responsibilities he have are not easy to complete, sometimes at the balcony at our home I saw him pondering, and when I approached him and asked him what he was thinking about, he just said “nothing”. He could lie then, but the wrinkles on his forehead could not.
I am not who I am now without him, he is the one introducing me to English, he registered me to the one of English course institutions to learn English, he motivated me to study well at school and at home. And he supported all my plan to continue my school when I finished my senior high school, although I knew at that time he would not have enough money to let me enter university education, but with all ALLAH’s benevolent I was accepted in one of free of charge colleges, State College of Accounting.
Life is not as easy as we arrange, we need to survive with all the possible way we can make, and my father has already know the sweet and the sour in this life, he opens my insight about what actually life is, with all the obstacles I may face in the next coming days, only patience and submission to ALLAH which will help me to be in the direction I wish.
To my father in my hometown, I want to say my thanks and :
“Well, dad.. now you are already 54 years old.. may ALLAH.SWT always keeps you and guides you, i.. am proud to be your son, wish me luck to realize the dreams you have ever said, amin..”
Fellow Toastmasters..
Wassalamualaikum
USA's Debts To The World..
My fellow citizens:
I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.
Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbears, and true to our founding documents.
So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.
That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.
These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land — a nagging fear that America’s decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.
Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America — they will be met.
On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.
On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.
We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.
In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted — for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.
For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.
For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.
For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.
Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.
This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions — that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.
For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.
Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions — who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.
What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them — that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account — to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day — because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.
Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control — and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart — not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.
As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience’s sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.
Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.
We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort — even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.
For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.
To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.
To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world’s resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.
As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment — a moment that will define a generation — it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.
For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter’s courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent’s willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.
Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends — hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.
This is the price and the promise of citizenship.
This is the source of our confidence — the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.
This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed — why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.
So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America’s birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:
“Let it be told to the future world…that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive…that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it].”
America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.
Sumber: Presidential Inaugural Committee (USA Today)
I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.
Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbears, and true to our founding documents.
So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.
That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.
These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land — a nagging fear that America’s decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.
Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America — they will be met.
On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.
On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.
We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.
In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted — for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.
For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.
For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.
For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.
Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.
This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions — that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.
For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.
Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions — who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.
What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them — that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account — to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day — because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.
Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control — and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart — not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.
As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience’s sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.
Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.
We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort — even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.
For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.
To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.
To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world’s resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.
As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment — a moment that will define a generation — it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.
For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter’s courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent’s willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.
Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends — hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.
This is the price and the promise of citizenship.
This is the source of our confidence — the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.
This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed — why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.
So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America’s birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:
“Let it be told to the future world…that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive…that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it].”
America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.
Sumber: Presidential Inaugural Committee (USA Today)
Langganan:
Postingan (Atom)
Postingan
