Indonesia will prosper if...

Indonesia will prosper if...

In celebrating the independence of the Republic of Indonesia,
one cannot separate the proclamation of independence with the
names Sukarno and Hatta. It was in the 1960s when it happened.
Indonesia was still under the Sukarno administration. The
political situation and the general conditions of the country
were strongly influenced by the Communist Party. Business was bad
and the inflation rate moved at a gallop, not within years or
months but within days. It was really a bad and hard time to
survive in those years. The general political situation was very
uncertain and everyone looked at a dark future.

Once in a restricted cabinet meeting presided over by the then
president Sukarno, which was also attended by the vice president
Mohammad Hatta, the president launched an exclusive and
surprising idea. He told Hatta the following thing: "The
conditions of our country, especially its economy, are so poor.
Poverty and hunger prevail everywhere in the country. I am sad,
very sad for that and therefore the situation must be changed. As
a matter of fact we have won the war against the Dutch and gained
our independence, which we proclaimed in 1945. Germany and Japan
on the other hand, two nations who lost the war against the
Allied Forces, have survived and recovered so fast, and have
become two most developed, industrialized and rich countries in
the world. We, Indonesians, should not have won the war, so that
like Germany and Japan we could have been prosperous too and made
a substantial progress in the development of our economy. We must
therefore go into war. Give command to Gen. Nasution to
immediately declare war against America. After a while of war, I
will declare ourselves defeated and recapitulate." Without
arguing, Hatta was just about to leave the conference room. But
as soon as he approached the door, Sukarno called him back. The
president said: "Hatta, we are talking about declaring a war and
losing that war against America, but imagine what will happen if
we again win the war, like we did against the Dutch? It can make
things much worse, so revoke my order." There went the story told
among certain circles of politicians and statements. But whether
it really happened or not, no one will ever know.

ALOYSIUS HARYONO

Jakarta