Leaders and ignorance

Leaders and ignorance

From Rakyat Merdeka

When President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid and his assistants
bow their heads and put out their hands, palms up, begging the
International Monetary Fund for mercy, members of the House of
Representatives and councilors, wearing a tie with a gold
insignia pinned on their chest, walked, chest forward and head
up, into a star-rated hotel, lugging their expensive briefcases,
or took an expensive trip to spend hundreds of millions of
rupiah. Their purported mission: a comparative study.

Some Indonesians have their houses burned to ashes and many
others have become widows, widowers or refugees. Many children
have been orphaned or have dropped out of school. They can no
longer go to school because of riots. Many people have lost their
limbs or eyes. Quite a few have lost their jobs. While the number
of these unfortunate people increase, the President and his
assistants and the legislators and councilors vie with one
another to go abroad, again, for a comparative study. People's
money and government loans have been simply wasted.

Driving a luxurious car and earning millions of rupiah a
month, the legislators proudly accept the distribution of the
state budget for their regions. They have never felt sinful or
guilty. They don't consider it their job to think about suffering
people. This is really an example of being uncivilized: to live
in the lap of luxury amid the plight of common people.

If our fallen heroes and freedom fighters could speak, they
would ask the following:

What value do you attach to our bones which have lain
scattered?

How many of us have died for the sake of the unitary state of
the Republic of Indonesia, without receiving salaries, luxury
cars or food?

Does the government keep a record of our descendants after our
death on the battle field?

Does the government take care of our descendants?

Oh, the happy President and the merry legislators, please
repent for prioritizing your personal interests. Stop telling
lies. Stop driving luxurious automobiles. Stop spending the loans
extravagantly. Please unite our people first. They are as much
Indonesian as you. Unfortunately they continue to live in misery
and poverty because you have shut fast your conscience about and
turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to their plight.

U. SILABAN

Ponitianak, West Kalimantan