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