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