It's about 'quick fixes'

It's about 'quick fixes'

I find Carl Chairul's By The Way piece last Sunday (July 12)
not only amusing but right on the nose. It's truly a pity that
some readers are unable to see that he does not intend to
ridicule the idea of making sacrifices in the form of fasting to
help less-fortunate fellow countrymen. What Carl is actually
highlighting -- if I may amplify it for him -- is our leaders'
strong tendency to invent and enforce quick fixes that do not
really address the source of the problems that we have as a
nation.

What else could you call fasting in order to cut down on rice
consumption? It's nothing but a quick fix. What is the real
problem? Well, just take a look at Lombok, where the most
productive rice fields on this island were converted into a lush
golf course some years ago. And Lombok is just one very tiny
example, you can readily find thousands of other cases where
fertile rice fields have been taken away from farmers and are
turned into golf courses and resorts. That's the real cause of
our current rice shortage, not because you and I eat too much
rice.

For a long time our government leaders have always resorted to
the most convenient solutions for the problems that they
perceive. If they need more revenues, they just raise existing
taxes or impose new ones. Just think about the very recent
exorbitant hikes in postage stamps, the imminent jumps in
telephone rates and the introduction of fuel taxes for Jakarta.
These are all quick fixes! Do they really eliminate the source of
the problem? We'd be lucky if these quick fixes do not result in
even more problems.

Carl couldn't be more correct when he writes "The bottom line,
apparently, is efficiency". Inefficiency is one of the biggest
problems in this country, and we have seen no real effort in
addressing it. Take, for example, the latest suggestion to change
the names of the three hospitals linked to Soeharto's
foundations. Think about the need to print new letterhead and
forms, design new logos, create new seals, etc. These will just
cause more unnecessary expenses while they won't address the real
problem at all.

Carl, keep on writing your great pieces. Keep reminding our
readers that the problems we have now are the outcome of too many
quick fixes that have hardly anything to do with the core of the
problems.

ZATNI ARBI

Jakarta