Beauty queen

Beauty queen

From Jayakarta

President Soeharto has warned that Indonesia should not take
part in the Miss Universe beauty contest. This was stressed
following a widespread debate on the issue.

Today most social leaders are only capable of dealing with
light matters, such as a beauty contest which only concerns one
Indonesian person. Why don't we think of more substantial matters
like the fate of thousands of Indonesian workers working in
foreign countries? Many of them are tortured, have their human
rights abused, and are raped.

Many recently drowned when trying to cross the seas. Those who
survived were captured and detained and accused of trying to
enter the country illegally. In fact, they did it because they
had no choice. They found it very hard to get a job in Indonesia
and so they tried their luck in a neighboring country. It is
ironic, indeed. We often boast of the richness of our country but
it cannot guarantee decent employment for all its citizens.

All these cases call for serious attention because they also
concern the dignity of our country.

JON

Jakarta