Lack of sense of crisis

Lack of sense of crisis

In The Jakarta Post dated Sept. 30 there was a news report
saying that President B.J. Habibie summoned several ministers and
high ranking officials advising them about the plan to renovate
his office in the Merdeka Palace.

He wants to have an office with an atmosphere which will
inspire him to think more seriously about the fate of the
Indonesian people.

I am certainly proud that the president should have such an
office and of course he deserves that convenience. But there is
one thing that bothers me. Part of the budget for the renovation
will be taken from the budget of the Ministry of Education and
Culture, which will inevitably curtail the activities of the
development programs of the ministry concerned.

In view of the present crisis, I would like to propose that
the President make use of the existing office and let the
ministers concentrate on efforts to find the best solution to the
economic crisis. To be inspired to improve the fate of the
people, the President, can instead make frequent trips to
villages where most people are living below the poverty line.

Proceeding with the plan of renovating his working office will
only show that he lacks the sense of the crisis which God knows
when it will end.

M. SULHAN ASKANDAR

Jakarta