Feudalism still prominent in business
JAKARTA (JP): Extensive business activities conducted by the children of high-ranking government officials are partly encouraged by prevailing cultural values which lead to a feudalistic business atmosphere.
Djisman S. Simandjuntak, executive director of the Prasetiya Mulya Graduate School of Management, pointed this out yesterday, saying that since the public was extremely aware of this condition, they often viewed the success of many businessmen in Indonesia as a case of mere luck and having the ability to get close to the center of power.
"To a certain extent, this may be true, but many such businesses -- which are not based on professionalism -- often perish quickly," he said during a luncheon held to commemorate the 16th anniversary of the Eksekutif monthly magazine.
The question on the business activities of the children of senior and influential government officials was raised by members of the House of Representatives in a hearing with Attorney General Singgih earlier this month, which discussed the current campaign against corruptions and collusions between government officials and business people.
The children of government officials -- including those of President Soeharto, who are known to own extensive businesses in the country -- defended themselves, saying that being Indonesian citizens, they had the right to make a living.
Their argument was backed by State Minister of Administrative Reform T.B. Silalahi, who said that once the children are married or financially independent, they should be allowed to run their own businesses.
Unavoidable
Businessman Soedarpo Sastrosatomo, who also addressed yesterday's luncheon, acknowledged that feudalistic practices in business were still unavoidable in spite of "revolutionary" efforts to boost efficiency and professionalism.
"Feudalism indicates practices where people obtain good positions in a business without having the appropriate skills to be there," he said, defining the term.
He said that times have changed and his generation went through tougher, fairer competition than the generation of his children.
"The least we can do now is speak to officials' children and hope they can be aware that what they are doing is harmful to others," he said.
Responding to recent comments from economists -- including Bank Indonesia's Governor J. Soedradjad Djiwandono -- who consider that Indonesia needs to further diversify its export commodities, Djisman said the problem was that the government could not convince foreign investors to enter the country.
"Since 1989 in particular, it was strongly felt that diversification of businesses did not go as planned," he said.
Export-oriented investments continued to decline since that year and after footwear manufacture, there has been no major industrial sector producing goods for exports, he said.
Local investors, Djisman said, were still reluctant to go "all out" to boost exports and preferred to sell their products on the domestic market.(pwn)