Equality and PDI Perjuangan

Equality and PDI Perjuangan

From Koran Tempo

A large banner that was put up during a special meeting of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) read Tat twan asi (I am you and you are me).

The words have a profound meaning as they were introduced by the late Bung Karno in one of his books titled Sarinah. In the book Bung Karno explained that the hidden meaning of the old saying was nobility in the spirit of togetherness.

He said it was comparable to a rich man sitting on the veranda of his luxurious home during a dark, stormy night when he catches sight of an old man in worn out sandals shivering in the pelting rain.

Seeing the old man in his thin, wet clothing makes the rich man no longer feel the warmth of his expensive, beautiful clothes he is wearing, and he too starts to tremble vehemently.

If Megawati Soekarnoputri says that her party prioritizes the interests of ordinary people, can she act in the same way as her father, who cared about the fate of the less fortunate?

Can she act on the meaning of the slogan on the banners? Those who earn a low income think otherwise, but they can only wait and see.

TAUFIK KARMADI Jakarta