East Timor's bad legacy

East Timor's bad legacy

Indonesia is losing face in the eyes of world, due to the East
Timor problem. East Timor is a bad legacy of the Soeharto regime
but Habibie has made it worse.

Back to 1977 [sic] when the problem started, there was not any
referendum for Indonesians as to whether they would accept East
Timor, or not; whether they would finance East Timor for hundreds
of billions of rupiah, or not; whether they would sacrifice in
terms of goods and souls for the foreigners of East Timor, or
not. Indonesian people were never asked by the ruling powers
whether they agreed with the military invasion that cost not only
huge amounts of money but also the lives of Indonesians.

Indonesia still has a large and wide territory without East
Timor. The nation still possesses an immense wealth, although
East Timor may no longer be part of the country. What Indonesia
should do is to heal the wounds of conflicts and concentrate
fully on managing and developing the country's domestic
potential.

If some day East Timor becomes a wealthier country than
Indonesia, it is their fate to have such good luck. Indonesians
should not envy their good fate and sincerely allow everything
that has been given to East Timor go to the new country. As most
Indonesian people are believers, I would like to remind them that
God never sleeps.

If the international world, especially the U.S. and Australia,
want to punish Indonesia, it is misdirected. They shouldn't see
the problem in black and white. Punish only the wrongdoers, not
all Indonesians. There is no story like Rambo or James Bond 007
in the real world.

YOKE OCTARINA

Jakarta