'Don't repeat old habits after IMF cure'<\/p>\n
The government has resorted to the International Monetary Fund
\n(IMF) to help it through the currency crisis. Communications
\nexpert Wimar Witoelar says that realizing one's sickness is
\nalready half the cure.<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): There is no relationship between IMF and the
\ninter-galactic trouble-shooting elite cops portrayed in the
\nblockbuster movie Men in Black starring Tommy Lee Jones and Will
\nSmith. But both conjure up images of expertise, mystery and above
\nall ruthless effectiveness.<\/p>\n
According to an Indonesian public opinion poll from the last
\nfew days, people are trembling over the specter of the IMF coming
\nin to help extract Indonesia from its financial mess.<\/p>\n
Dennis de Tray, head of the World Bank mission in Jakarta,
\nactually does not agree that the country is facing a financial
\ncrisis, suggesting that \"confidence crisis\" is a better
\ndescription. Whatever.<\/p>\n
Problems, they say, come by the dozen. Indonesia is facing a
\ncrisis period. In fact, the worst in 30 years.<\/p>\n
Many economists compare the IMF to a doctor. Some say that the
\nIMF is a tough and uncompassionate doctor. Rizal Ramli says:
\n\"They are not saviors, but come to amputate our limbs.\"<\/p>\n
Christianto Wibisono, however, says that when somebody is
\nreally sick, one should stop all bad habits like smoking and junk
\nfood addiction. And if you cannot help yourself with home cures,
\nyou have to call the doctor and do as the doctor says.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's problems may be situational -- caused by financial
\nspeculation and withdrawal of funds from loan and currency
\nmarkets. But they come in a setting of chronic inefficiency,
\ncorruption, collusion, nepotism, protectionism, cronyism, and
\nabove all the arrogance of power.<\/p>\n
Economist Faisal Basri feels it is not yet time to call the
\nIMF. We still have one more trump card left, he says. \"Have the
\nnational leadership reform our system.\" Sure.<\/p>\n
That is like the person in Chicago who did an appendectomy on
\nhimself. There are many opinions and second opinions, but in any
\ncase de Tray is right. We are facing a crisis of confidence in
\nour financial leaders, who in this country are also the economic
\nand political leaders.<\/p>\n
We should not worry about issues like national sovereignty, or
\nheaven forbid, pride. When the doctor comes, he or she does not
\ncare too much about your lifestyle, except where it has impact on
\nyour health.<\/p>\n
The IMF could not care less why we have a permissive society
\nwhich allows corruption. They just want the corruption stopped so
\nwe can regain our financial health. They cannot do their job
\nunless we take medication and find the discipline to change our
\nbad habits.<\/p>\n
Reform has been slow in coming to Indonesia, and it is a fact
\nof life that prosperity coupled with absolute authority has in
\nfact delayed social reform in this country. This in turn has not
\nbeen good for economic fundamentals.<\/p>\n
When the power elite equates dissent with disruption,
\ndemocracy gets sidelined.<\/p>\n
When stability is interpreted as the suppression of
\ninitiative, business growth gets more and more centered and we
\nget a situation of total surrender to a paternalistic system.<\/p>\n
The crunch comes when the center loses its perspective because
\nof total submissions made by the nation's political and economic
\nplayers.<\/p>\n
When prominent businessman William Soeryadjaya was forced out
\nof his Astra International Corporation, the noted analyst Hartojo
\nWignyowiyoto said: \"there cannot be two suns in the Indonesian
\nsky\", referring to the notion that William never made himself
\ndependent on the power elite.<\/p>\n
The fact is, Indonesian businesses have become beneficiaries
\nof government largesse -- decreasing their value in the deal.
\nGrowing both in the private sector as well as the public sector,
\nthey were spoonfed by government protection, subsidies and
\ncollusive arrangements at the cost of national productivity.<\/p>\n
It is easy to see how we came to a situation in which massive
\nwealth accumulation has been matched with a decrease in
\nproduction.<\/p>\n
The announcements that \"our economic fundamentals are good\"
\nbecame whistling in the dark and eventually were ignored by
\nfinancial speculators who bet correctly against the rupiah --
\nwinning them the biggest game in town.<\/p>\n
And this is all because we would not face reality like the
\nforest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan, of which we were unaware
\nof until Garuda 152 crashed and the smoke seeped into the skies
\nof Jakarta a few hundred meters above our lungs. Now we have
\nMalaysian fire-fighters fighting our fires and the Men in Black
\nfighting for our rupiah.<\/p>\n
The real issue of the IMF presence is not what Rizal, Chris,
\nFaisal, de Tray or I think, but that the government feels it is
\ntime to call them.<\/p>\n
When the government, for all its firm actions such as refusing
\njet fighters from the U.S., stubbornly defending wasteful
\nnational projects, and curtailing individual expression, calls
\nfor the intervention of the IMF \"Men in Black\" from the bastions
\nof democracy and capitalism, then it means they know they are
\nreally sick.<\/p>\n
And that is what matters. Half the cure comes in realizing the
\nproblem. It is better to call the IMF than, like Malaysia, to
\nblame financier George Soros and threaten to isolate the
\ncountry's currency from foreign speculators. The result only sent
\nthe ringgit sliding further down against the dollar.<\/p>\n
This time our leaders are more sensible. Rather than ranting
\nand raving they call in the IMF and let the experts do the job.<\/p>\n
Remember, the doctors are coming because we called them. And
\nnow we must let them do their work, pay our bills someday and
\nrefrain from going back to old habits.<\/p>\n
This may be the only way to reform our country's corrupt power
\nstructure and return confidence to our people.<\/p>",
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