Indonesians happy battlers: Survey<\/p>\n
Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
While media reports often focus on doom and gloom -- price hikes
\nand the rampant corruption, poor investment climate and
\nwidespread social injustice and poverty in the country -- a
\nrecent national survey made public on Tuesday revealed that most
\nIndonesians are a happy, content lot, who are positive about the
\nfuture.<\/p>\n
Conducted by the U.S.-based International Foundation for
\nElection Systems (IFES), the survey showed that 81 percent of
\nIndonesians assessed their family's quality of life as good or
\nvery good.<\/p>\n
The generally positive view was prevalent throughout society
\nand even 73 percent of those at the lowest socio-economic level
\nsaid their quality of life was good.<\/p>\n
The vast majority of Indonesians (90 percent) also said that
\nthey had maintained or improved their quality of life during the
\npast year.<\/p>\n
There was also an increased optimism about future conditions,
\nas 47 percent expected their family's quality of life would be
\nbetter in a year's time, compared to 31 percent in 2003 and 38
\npercent in 2002.<\/p>\n
The survey was conducted between Feb. 7 and Feb. 11, through
\nface-to-face interviews with 2,020 respondents in 33 provinces,
\nincluding the conflict areas of Aceh, Maluku and Papua.<\/p>\n
Using a multi-stage random sampling method, the survey's
\nsampling of error was estimated to be 2.2 percent at 95 percent
\nconfidence level.<\/p>\n
Aside from questions about the future, the survey covered
\neight other areas: An assessment of Susilo's administration;
\nopinions on state institutions and leaders, women in parliament,
\npolitical parties, electoral bodies, the Constitutional Court;
\nregional and local representation and the media.<\/p>\n
However, the survey was carried out before the government's
\ndecision to increase the fuel prices, which would likely have
\naffected the result.<\/p>\n
Since 2001, economic problems have been regularly mentioned by
\nIndonesians in surveys as their main concern.<\/p>\n
The recent survey showed that 55 percent of Indonesians cited
\nthe increased prices of basic needs as the country's biggest
\nproblem, followed by the difficulty to find work (26 percent).<\/p>\n
One issue that has lost resonance since the 2003 survey was
\nthe perceived lack of security in the country fingered as the
\nnation's biggest problem, which dropped from 13 percent in 2003
\nto 2 percent this year.<\/p>\n
Forty-eight percent of those surveyed felt safer or much safer
\ncompared to last year, including those in the conflict areas of
\nAceh, Maluku and Papua. In 2003, only 27 percent felt this way.<\/p>\n
The IFES said one reason for the vastly improved perception of
\nsecurity issues could be the fact that Susilo's government was
\ngenerally perceived as stronger on security issues than that of
\nhis predecessor, Megawati Soekarnoputri.<\/p>\n
All in all, almost two-thirds, or 64 percent, of all
\nIndonesians think that the country has been headed on the right
\ntrack since the 2004 elections.<\/p>\n
The most frequently mentioned reasons were the serious efforts
\nfrom the government to fight corruption (43 percent), improve the
\nsecurity situation (18 percent), economy (13 percent) and a more
\nhonest government (12 percent).<\/p>",
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