Buy Indonesian

President Soeharto has once again appealed to Indonesians to show their appreciation of home-made products. Mothers, he said, should encourage their children to use products made by Indonesians.

It is indeed a cause for concern that due to the endless stream of advertisements, young Indonesians in the middle and upper classes have become virtually addicted to imported products. There seems to be a certain prestige in using or wearing foreign brand products.

This has created a trend so that young people in the lower- middle and lower classes have developed a liking for fake foreign products. Unfortunately, our own producers -- especially those in the small business category -- are quite willing to satisfy this demand.

The offense of manufacturing fake products aside, the appeal to buy domestic products deserves our support, given the dire consequences that a loss of the domestic market share might have on our economy. At the same time, however, our preference for home-made products should not be devoid of sound consideration. Rather, it should imply a demand that our producers improve the quality of their products and make them competitive and at least come close to their imported equivalents in terms of quality. Thus, the appeal to our people to cherish our own domestic products cannot be separated from an appeal to our manufacturers to improve the quality of their products.

-- Suara Karya, Jakarta