Does crisis still prevail?

Does crisis still prevail?

Life at the moment, particularly in Jakarta, is extremely contradictory. On the one hand there are too many unemployed people, or those who do any kind of work provided they are paid for it. People cannot afford to buy things they need, or they are broke and do not know what to do to make money. On the other hand, there are people who waste money and buy luxury things like new cars and other things. Question: Are we still in a crisis, a time of difficulty?

Look at those luxury cars traveling on the main roads in Jakarta like the new Kijang minibus, which costs more than Rp 100 million, and other latest models of built-up luxury cars. In addition, new, luxury, built-up cars were just exhibited. The question is, where did they get the money? Who are they? They don't seem to feel the economic crisis, whereas there are tens of millions of the poor people, particularly in the rural areas, who can't afford to buy their meals every day.

I, therefore, am of the opinion that the current economic crisis is not real. It only affects those who become the victims of capitalistic economy. Of course, the capitalists themselves are not affected at all. And they keep wasting money as they wish.

To conclude, I'd like to take this opportunity to call on those wasting money to be considerate. It would be considerate, thoughtful of them not to waste money while millions are awfully hungry! The ever widening gap can lead to social unrest or even social revolution, can't it?

BUDI MURDONO

Jakarta