A call for greater sensitivity

A call for greater sensitivity

Like Indonesia, Thailand and South Korea have also been hit by the economic crisis. As we know, however, here the crisis has hit harder because it was accompanied by disturbances on the political plane. It is thus understandable that expectations for an economic revival have been dimmer in this country than in Bangkok or Seoul.

This double crisis is the reason why no clear distinction can be made between the kinds of efforts that have to be made in order to restore healthy conditions in both the economic and political fields in this country. In the Bank Bali case, for example, the political aspect of the scandal is just as serious as that of the purely technical banking one. We therefore hope that those in charge of the case will handle the case with honesty and prudence.

We are still highly dependent on foreign loans and investment, but if the current situation continues the money will never come flowing in in adequate amounts and an overall revival of our economy cannot be expected for at least another five years.

We hope the elite in our society will have enough conscience to heed the suffering that the economic and political crises are causing to our people at present. Tens of millions of people of productive ages are jobless. More than five million children have been compelled to drop out of school. The number of people who are living below the poverty line continues to grow. All those people want an end to their sufferings.

-- Bisnis Indonesia, Jakarta