Megawati offers 'housewife management system'
Kornelius Purba Fabiola Desy Unidjaja Tokyo
President Megawati Soekarnoputri had a secret to tell 200 Indonesian community members here on Friday. She said she believes in a "housewife management system" to manage the state economy.
The President said she chose the system because experience proves that housewives know the best way to manage their family budget, even though their husband's income was barely enough to make ends meet.
She said a housewife would try to save some money even though they had far from enough, but she knows she must do it for her family's future.
She said she was often confused with her economic ministers, especially Coordinating Minister for the Economy Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti, who tended to use complicated economic theories to decide the government's economic policies.
She said the solution was in fact much more simpler if he took a lesson from his wife.
"Pak Dorodjatun and his colleagues have to think hard when dealing with astronomical figures, which is obvious from his wrinkly forehead. I say why not just adopt the housewife's method."
Megawati said how she often reminded her ministers about her leadership management.
When she saw her audience laugh, including her ministers, she looked irritated and said: "Don't laugh. Housewives usually know best how to stretch finances. I bet your husbands would go bankrupt if your wives couldn't manage the budget well."
Her husband Taufik Kiemas, her son Rizki Pratama and daughter Puan Maharani burst into laughter when Megawati said that some mothers were also good at "marking up" expenses and cheating their husbands.
"The money is concealed in a secret pocket, or somewhere else. Housewives are good at it. Then the wives tell their husbands that they have no more shopping money," said Megawati as she demonstrated how to hide money in one of her pockets.
She was granted an honorary doctorate degree on Saturday from the prestigious Waseda University.
The President expressed her bitter feelings about continuing corruption and the abuse of state funds. She said she did not know how corrupt officials had the heart to plunder state coffers.
She said Indonesia would never be able to end its economic chaos unless corruption was rooted out and corruptors were punished.
Megawati said one of her toughest jobs was to safeguard the state coffers from "robbers".
"How can I save money if the coffers are robbed all the time?" Megawati said and looked at the guests in the front row, where Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) chairman Aburizal Bakrie was seated.
Later in the afternoon, the President attended a luncheon jointly hosted by Japanese-Indonesian Parliamentarian League chairman Taku Yamasaki and the Japanese-Indonesian Association leader Yukio Hayashida.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told the President on Thursday night that he had entrusted Yamasaki, who is also the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) secretary-general, to handle key bilateral problems with Indonesia on his behalf.
In her luncheon speech, Megawati also took the opportunity to introduce her husband as a member of the House of Representatives (DPR) from her own party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan).
"I have included in my delegation three members of the Indonesian legislature. You may be aware that my husband is also a legislator," Megawati said.
In the evening, Megawati paid a courtesy call on Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, who she called her old friends.