A nation without a real leader

A nation without a real leader

Sunday is normally a relaxing day in my life because I can
wake up late and enjoy my coffee in the morning without worrying
about traffic jams, which, during the week, become the order of
the day.

But last Sunday was somewhat different. As I read the Post on
Sept. 1, my eyes caught the headline 64 workers, children die in
Nunukan. I was so sad and choked with emotion as I read the
article. Although 64 people seems like a small number compared to
a population of over 200 million in this country, if we knew who
they were, I think we would be overcome with sorrow.

They are our national citizens who were struggling to get
ahead by working illegally in Malaysia because there were not
enough jobs available for them in Indonesia. They struggled for a
living and also for their family and relatives back in their
kampong.

Now as Malaysia has enforced new laws that punish these
workers with caning, imprisonment and large fines, many of
Indonesia's workers, who are mostly illegal, are trying to avoid
the sanctions and return home. Unfortunately, there has been no
significant help from the Indonesian government in easing the
situation.

That is not the case with the Philippines. President Gloria
Macapagal Arroyo sent her predecessor, former president Fidel
Ramos to Kuala Lumpur to solve the issue of illegal immigrants
there. She went to Bangao in the province of Tawi-Tawi, to meet
the illegal workers that had disembarked in the city to get
firsthand information about the suffering of thousands of
deportees from Sabah. The climax came when she talked on the
phone directly with Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad with the
result that Kuala Lumpur has halted the deportation of Filipino
migrant workers, as reported in The Post on page 2 of Sunday,
Sept. 1.

What is happening in Indonesia is different. Despite the
crisis that is hitting this nation and the disaster involving
some 22,000 illegal workers in Nunukan, President Megawati went
ahead with her scheduled trip overseas. It seems to me that she
does not feel responsible to solve the issue. Instead, she relies
on her assistants to sort out the problems. I have concluded that
our nation has no real leader. We have only a leader of the
Cabinet.

M. SULHAN ASKANDAR, Jakarta