From Okinawa with tears
No doubt many Indonesians were honestly, and perhaps a bit naively, expecting to get some benefit from the just-concluded summit of industrialized countries on the Japanese island of Okinawa.
However, there was no (more) writing off of the debts of poor countries. Unbelievable though it may sound, Indonesia wants to be seen as a country poor enough to be entitled to debt relief. In reality, this is just wishful thinking, if one considers that Indonesia has been classified as number three among the most corrupt countries on the globe by the international community.
You do not offer gifts to swindlers and thieves "who do not work hard and repent their sin". I have the impression that Indonesians spend more time thinking hard how to violate regulations than to abide by the law, which they see as only valid for others and not for themselves.
Coming from the African continent, understandably UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has criticized the failure of the major industrial powers to cancel more Third World debt at the summit. Campaigners have complained of the failure of the group to meet a year-old promise to write off US$100 billion of debt held by the 41 poorest countries.
The Japanese constructed a press center on the occasion of the summit at a cost of Y81.4 billion or $754 million -- enough money, according to Oxfam charity spokesman Phil Twyford, to put 12 million children through school for a year.
Russian President Vladimir Putin may have been the luckiest man on that occasion, speaking on economic and political reform in Russia, a country which still needs foreign aid. The ministers agreed to talk later again about global free trade. Perhaps this is another chance for Indonesia to press its views and get better quotas. For trade is preferable than aid. Surprisingly, the summit promised better educational facilities for the world's children.
Bill Clinton seemed to have his mind more on the Camp David meeting between Israeli and Arab leaders. My hope is that Clinton, after the end of his presidential term, sets up a similar humanitarian center like the Carter Center, but with more emphasis on helping Indonesia solve its problems.
GANDHI SUKARDI
Jakarta