Leaving behind year 1998

If you are lucky enough to witness the last sunset of 1998 or the first moonrise of 1999, take time to remember that we have seen almost 2000 years of civilization. Be aware that man has begun to build the first international space station, and if you want to know what exactly this is, maybe you should consult Ibu Laksono, the first Indonesian woman astronomer.

Also be aware that the fastest man in Asia (at least at the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok) is a Japanese who ran the 100m in 10 seconds flat. If you look for the slowest man on earth, maybe he is an Indonesian, as can be seen in the attempted trial of a former president here (in one year nothing happened).

While the cloning of sheep has now become "child's play" for scientists, Indonesian statesmen prefer to stick to their clowning game in practicing justice and democracy. It must be admitted that the former regime, fanatically backed by its party loyalists, had succeeded for 30 years in the creative art of "political cloning", and practically without medical interference.

Remember also, while you blast off for the New Year, that we can learn a lot from the Americans in carrying out foreign policy, as seen by the visit by U.S. President Bill Clinton to the Palestinian airfield accompanied by Yasser Arafat. However, in lovemaking we should learn from the French, and for the experience you do not need to know Napoleon's wife Josephine. You just need to take a stroll in Montparnasse, Paris.

What else do you call them if not simply "stupid Americans" if an "innocent kiss" could lead to the impeachment of a U.S. president, with all of the international security and diplomatic consequences?

With the end of the second millennium and the start of the third only a year away, people on earth are expected to look more toward the heavenly bodies. The Americans are sending a vehicle to the planet Mars to find out whether there had ever been water on that planet, ignoring that, as it were, hundreds of thousands of Chinese and Bangladeshis were drowned following a storm caused by La Nina, the sister of El Nino.

Our ingenious minister of agriculture naturally prefers to plant rice nearer to home, namely on the moon where the price of fertilizer is competitive. Maybe a Golkar official would like to take a ride to the moon to plant the party's flag in time for the next general election. Security would be guaranteed by the Rakyat Terlatih (Ratih), the proposed civilian militia. Only, I suggest they wear special eyeglasses to protect themselves from the deadly ultraviolet sun rays.

With so many vehicles crisis-crossing space, the people most delighted to witness such a technological fairy tale in action would include Ronggowarsito (Javanese poet and futurist), Stevenson (inventor of the steam engine), Faraday (inventor of the electricity) and Edison (inventor of the electric bulb).

Still, the most pressing problems facing mankind in the year 2000 and beyond remain the question of how to feed every mouth (even for rich Japan) and provide employment and shelter. The protection of the earth's forests, water sources and animal species are also essential for all living creatures.

When we were all cavemen and cavewomen we did not need democracy... only carrots and bananas.

GANDHI SUKARDI

Jakarta