A much wider gap

A much wider gap

The monetary crisis has given me a new hobby, browsing around
the department stores just to look at the price labels. For some,
it might seem stupid but I like to see the prices change every
day. Who knows when they will go back to where they were a few
months ago, when the rupiah still had a much stronger rate
against the U.S. dollar.

There is also something interesting to observe during this
exercise. The customers' expressions change knowing that the
prices of items have gone up, much higher than their previous
purchases. "Where are we up to now? We might as well kill
ourselves, yet we cannot do that either. Insecticide prices are
skyrocketing," said one buyer.

"But, we can do it by jumping into a deep river, can't we?" I
replied. We both laughed at this exchange of comments.

Despite this gloomy situation, the haves still have the
ability to buy whatever they want. In the well-known Pasaraya
department store, two female shoppers asked a shop assistant for
Nina Ricci perfume. They were told that particular item was out
of stock and that the price was very high.

Ironically, I read in the paper about a 14-year-old girl who
bought perfume for Rp 800,000 at Taman Anggrek Mall.

On the other hand, RCTI reported that in Aceh, villagers had
to fry food with banana leaves because they could not afford to
buy cooking oil.

At the time when there was a big rush for basic commodities, I
was amazed at the frenzied buyers who packed their trolleys with
staple foods, leaving most supermarket shelves empty. I couldn't
believe my eyes, as rice, cooking oil, sugar etc. disappeared.
"My God, do they think of eating all that stuff for weeks," my
friend wondered.

One of my neighbor fainted while lining up for hours to get
cooking oil at a market operation. The fact is, the widening gap
between Indonesia's rich and poor is phenomenal at present. The
little people have become poorer as prices keep going up, while
the elite can still get what money can buy.

WIDI ASTUTI

Jakarta