Growth, crime and violence

What state is our social picture in? This is a question that needs to be asked with increasing frequency as our economic development efforts proceed with intensifying speed. It is a question that emerges with greater intensity every time a violent incident occurs.

A while ago our attention was focused on Bekasi. Inside the span of a month -- not too long a period -- several cases of robbery and rape occurred in the area, with some cases involving such sadism that they became subjects of wide public discussion.

We are relieved that the recent Ujungpandang incidents have been satisfactorily resolved. It has been commonly agreed that the legal investigation into the incident will continue.

It has been wisely indicated that as far as is possible, a preventive way out of such problems will be endeavored through persuasion and that repressive action should be avoided. For this to be possible, it is necessary that we cultivate an understanding and awareness of the changes and developments that are taking place, and which make an imprint on society in terms of people's views, attitudes, behavior, sensitivities, concerns and aspirations.

It is not only security officers who need to understand and be aware of the current state of our society, but those who are concerned about the situation, including the bureaucracy, both at the central and regional levels. And as the private sector assumes an ever greater role in public life, an awareness of these changes is also needed on the parts of our private businesspeople.

To what extent such a preventive persuasive approach can be realized is largely determined by -- or is in fact dependent on -- the existence of such an understanding among all of us. Without it what we will have is a continuing accumulation of social problems which emerge as a result of economic progress converging with the impact of global interchange in all spheres of our lives.

-- Kompas, Jakarta