The President's speech<\/p>\n
President Megawati Soekarnoputri's New Year's Eve speech,
\nwhich was recorded on Dec. 28 before she took off for vacations
\nin Bali, reflects the inherent [tendency] trait of[for]
\nIndonesians to look only at the positive side of things. At one
\npoint of her speech she stated: \"However difficult our world,
\nit's not doomsday yet. There are other countries whose conditions
\nis far worse than ours at present.\"<\/p>\n
In a great number of Indonesian households this statement
\ncould be seen as to reflect an insensitivity. With so many heads
\nof families having lost their jobs, their savings spent, their
\nchildren forced to drop out of their schools, the specter of
\neviction from their rented homes possibly hanging over their
\nfamilies' heads and with no improvement in sight, it must look as
\nif doomsday has already arrived.<\/p>\n
As for the president's statement that there are other
\ncountries that are faring far worse than Indonesia at present,
\nit should come as no surprise that her words have attracted some
\nrather cynical comments among members of the community. It is
\ntrue that Indonesia is not like some African countries, which are
\nsuffering from famine and AIDS epidemics.<\/p>\n
We can also count ourselves fortunate for not having had to
\nshare the fate of the people of Afghanistan, who for have for
\nyears gone bent under the oppressive rule of the Taliban and then
\nendured the massive bombing raids of the Americans in their
\nsearch for Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda organization. It is
\nalso fortunate that we have not experienced the collapse of our
\nmonetary system as has happened in Argentina, triggering street
\ndemonstrations and a succession of presidential changes.<\/p>\n
However, after having counted our blessings and being grateful
\nfor the fact that things are a little better in Indonesia, where
\ndoes that leave us? Because the other side of that self-extolling
\nremark is the sad story of missed opportunities and time wasted
\nbecause of indecisiveness in government circles.<\/p>\n
Millions of Indonesians would have been better off and the
\nproverbial poverty line could have been a little lower had this
\ncountry had a government that knew what to do and the courage to
\nimplement the required decisions.<\/p>\n
This year 2002 is important for precipitating improvements in
\npractically every sector of our national life because next year
\nour political leaders, who are also manning the top governmental
\npositions, will start preparing themselves for the 2004 general
\nelections.<\/p>\n
The question now is how to instill a sense of urgency among
\nour leaders, starting with President Megawati, to trigger
\nmovement so that decisions can be made and implemented to solve
\nthe long-festering conflicts in a number of localities throughout
\nthe country, speed up the divestation of assets in order to
\nreplenish the state coffers, clean up the banking industry in
\norder that it can properly carry out its function of stimulating
\neconomic activity, and many other necessary undertakings.<\/p>\n
There is no better way than for the public, especially its
\nleaders, the press, academics, the people's representatives in
\nthe various legislative bodies to continue to express their
\nopinions and their criticism. After all, that is what democracy
\nis about: the airing of different opinions and the channeling of
\ncriticism.<\/p>\n
President Megawati and her associates had better get used to
\nthis fundamental characteristic of democracy.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/the-presidents-speech-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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