I was misquoted

I was misquoted

Your reporter misquoted me on two crucial points in the
article concerning middle class and development in Indonesia (The
Jakarta Post, Aug. 5, 1994, Page 1).

I did not say that there were 16 million university graduates
in Indonesia today. In fact, as of today, there are less than
three million university first degree (Sarjana) holders out of
189 million Indonesians. (Indonesian-language daily Kompas, Aug.
5, 1994, survey on university graduates and their employment
prospects). I did say that foreign private research sources
maintain that roughly 16 million Indonesians living primarily in
urban centers had a monthly household bill of between US$250 and
$500. Even that seems high, in view of the fact that there are no
more than 3.5 million Indonesians who own credit cards, according
to consumer banking sources.

I did not say that a large majority of Indonesians did not
understand democracy. I did say that the best way to promote
civil and political rights was a sustained attack on poverty and
improve basic needs (housing, health care, basic education) so
that the social economic base of civil and political freedoms can
be enhanced.

Assuming that 30 percent of middle class Indonesians is a
prerequisite to the functioning of a civil society, I estimate
that it would take another 20 years before 50 million out of 210
million Indonesians in the year 2015 make it to the ranks of the
middle class. Hopefully, most of the 50 million would be
committed to broadening the political and economic base of
Indonesian society. We have a long way to go.

JUWONO SUDARSONO

Jakarta

Note: Thank you for your correction.

-- Editor