Alcohol consumption

Following Mrs. Hetty M. Frederik's remarks on the consumption of alcohol (The Jakarta Post, Nov. 16, 1996 Indonesians and drinks), I would like to add the following on the subject.

There are about 26 million people living below the poverty line in Indonesia. Also, many young people leaving school cannot find jobs. On the other hand, there are a large number of people employed by the government. This last category, although employed and enjoying a salary -- with the exception of a number that are "clean" -- manage to extort additional sums of money using their bureaucratic power, also from the poor and unemployed.

As a Dutch bishop recently remarked, a poor man in need should be allowed to steal bread if he is hungry. My assumption is the dark force that drives youngsters to drink is in fact their good conscience in the case where they drink in order to get enough courage to steal or commit other crimes. They do not want to do so, but what other way is there to get food?

My race has been consuming alcohol for at least 2000 years. Citizens of countries such as France and Germany regularly consume wine and beer and have at the same time managed to achieve a productive economy and a reasonably democratic government. In the Bible, Jesus turned water into (good) wine at a gathering. As a consumer of wine myself, I have still managed to become a foreign investment specialist in Indonesia and I am getting a Ph.D. for it.

At the time of my research into the problems of foreign investment in Indonesia, I was searching for the reason why production costs in Indonesia were higher than in developed countries. One of the reasons was customs. When the Indonesian government decided to dismiss customs officials and hire SGS to do the inspection job, production costs in Indonesia decreased substantially, and sectors such as textiles and shoe manufacturing could really take off. By my estimate, dismissing 8,000 customs officials has created jobs for two million people, or 250 jobs for each corrupt official dismissed. If the government would continue to do this, less people would feel the need to resort to drinking in order to feel courageous enough to steal.

My last remark is that, in a democracy, an individual's rights are limited by the freedom of others to exercise their rights.

BOUDEWIJN BRANDS

Jogyakarta