A year of misery

A year of misery

According to the Chinese zodiac cycle, 1998 is the year of
tiger. But to my mind, it is the year of misery. It is a
saddening year, a year for sobbing. This is no fabrication, no
exaggeration.

A monetary crisis is crippling our country's economy, and
prices are skyrocketing. Some employers have had to lay off
workers and others will have to do that later this year, thus
increasing the number of unemployed.

Life is obviously much harder than it was.

And life could get much worse for the poor in the near future,
when our government will have to raise the price of fuel. As we
know already, the government is prepared to cut its subsidy for
fuel under the state budget plan, revised and agreed on with the
International Monetary Fund (IMF).

I wonder how long this crisis will last. Nobody knows what
will happen next -- is it going to get better or worse? There is
the saying, "every cloud has a silver lining". But we are not
really sure when that silver lining will show up. In this
respect, all we can do is wait patiently since God always stays
with those who are patient.

Indonesia is not alone in facing this monetary crisis. Our
neighbors -- Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines -- are also
dealing with this problem, and Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan
are in the same boat.

DJOKO SUBINARTO

Cimahi, West Java