'Love rupiah' drive (1)
Mrs. Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana (Mbak Tutut), in all earnestness, has started a campaign to make the people of Indonesia love their currency. With much fanfare, ministers, government officials and a few businessmen also "sold" their dollars.
I firmly believe that Mbak Tutut's sincere efforts will be reduced to a farce by some insincere people.
Take, for instance, the national carrier Garuda Airlines which has a warehouse in Soekarno-Hatta airport for storing goods imported through Garuda flights. The warehouse rent is charged in U.S. dollars. The exchange rate applied is ridiculously high. For example, the rate on Jan. 14 was Rp 9,340, whereas according to The Jakarta Post the rate was less than Rp 8,000. Can Garuda give a good explanation as to why the warehouse rent is being charged in U.S. dollars? Does Garuda pay its employees in U.S. dollars? Is this warehouse constructed using off-shore dollar loans?
Or, take for instance PT Cardig Air. This company is a member of Bimantara Group and also charges rent in U.S. dollars at their warehouse in Soekarno-Hatta airport. The rate of exchange is the same as that used by Garuda Airlines.
Or, take the owners of all the office buildings in Jakarta (and outside) who charge not only the rent but also service charges in U.S. dollars.
Or, take Pertamina and Perusahaan Umum Gas Negara who invoice their customers for natural gas in U.S. dollars.
There are many more examples to justify that the national currency of Indonesia should be changed to U.S. dollars because the dollar rules our daily lives more than we care to accept or admit.
I am an expatriate who has been working in Indonesia for several years. I love this country maybe more than my own because I earn my livelihood here. The exchange rate my employer uses is Rp 3,000/dollar so my "gain" is hardly anything worth mentioning.
I simply cannot understand why it has taken a crisis of this nature to make the Indonesian people try to love their own currency. Indonesians are so proud of their country, their national flag and their sportspersons yet they treat their own currency like mud. Can any Indonesian explain this to me?
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