A sense of urgency needed<\/p>\n
Two news items did not make front page headlines in local
\nmedia late last week because they could not compete with other
\nbig news items, such as the seemingly erratic police hunt for the
\nsuspects in the Bali blasts, the not-so-surprising Republican
\nsweep of the U.S. midterm elections, and the ensuing UN Security
\nCouncil's tough resolution on Iraq.<\/p>\n
One news item confirmed the continuing decline of foreign
\ndirect investment (FDI) in Indonesia. Total FDI approvals dropped
\nby 11 percent for the first nine months of this year compared to
\nthe same period of last year. Worse still, domestic investment
\napprovals plunged even further by about 70 percent during the
\nsame period.<\/p>\n
The other news item suggested the high probability of yet
\nanother two million jobless people -- added to the currently
\nestimated 38 million unemployed workers in the country -- as a
\nresult of the Oct. 12 terrorist strike in Bali. In Bali alone,
\nunemployment may rise by 600,000.<\/p>\n
\"We are predicting the worst,\" said Coordinating Minister for
\nSocial Welfare Jusuf Kalla.<\/p>\n
Both missed prominent places in the local media assumingly not
\nbecause they are less important than other news, nor because they
\nwill not negatively affect the already hard life of the reading
\nsociety of this country.<\/p>\n
The decline of FDI approvals as announced by Investment
\nCoordinating Board(BKPM) chairman Theo F. Toemion should concern
\nall of us.<\/p>\n
First, because it accounts for the period before the Bali
\ncarnage of Oct. 12, meaning the worst is yet to come.<\/p>\n
Second, the figures announced cover only the approvals of FDI,
\nnot the implementation of investments that presumably will be
\nless promising.<\/p>\n
Third, it compounds the adverse impacts of last year's decline
\nin FDI approvals, which was already down by more than 41.5
\npercent from the previous year.<\/p>\n
The increase of unemployment by a couple of million as
\nconveyed by Jusuf Kalla after last week's Cabinet meeting
\ncertainly is pertinent to the plight of this impoverished nation,
\nwhich has been muddling through multidimensional crises for the
\nlast five years with no light appearing at the end of the tunnel.
\nForty million jobless people in this country easily translates to
\nabout 100 million, maybe more, mouths in dire need of the very
\nbasic necessities of life.<\/p>\n
Even before the Bali carnage, the socioeconomic conditions of
\nthis country had been adversely affected by lingering social
\nunrest, labor disputes and a lack of confidence in the legal
\nsystem, as pointed out by Theo F. Thumion. After Oct. 12, it
\nbecome much worse, not only because tourism, which is very much
\ndependent on Bali and accounts for a large chunk of the nation's
\nforeign exchange income, is immediately hurt badly, but also
\nbecause most developed countries are suddenly treating this
\ncountry as a leper, a pariah nation that can be terrorized with
\nimpunity.<\/p>\n
Moreover, almost a month after the Bali carnage, the national
\ntragedy has not turned the country into a cohesive nation
\nharnessing all available resources to tackle the seemingly
\ninsurmountable challenges. On the contrary, it is more like
\nbusiness as usual. As if the grave situation we are facing will
\neventually disappear by itself. Worse still, it is as if those
\n100 million hungry mouths are not there if we don't look at them.<\/p>\n
What else does this nation need to rouse a sense of urgency?<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/a-sense-of-urgency-needed-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }