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