Mental education necessary

Mental education necessary

As we all know, Indonesia is in an economic crisis and many
people are feeling the pinch. There have been numerous attempts
to explain the current recession, ranging from the truly informed
to the quite bizarre.

One of the latter heard recently: "Indonesia decided to buy
Russian jet fighters so the Americans want to destroy our
economy."

I, for one, do not believe that "IMF and U.S. imperialism" are
to blame. Indonesia as a nation has been borrowing and spending
beyond its means. The shrewder economists have long given warning
signals.

A remark of the IMF's managing director, Michel Camdessus, on
television here, quite impressed me. He said under the major
scheduled reforms, money saved from canceled megaprojects should
go into 21st century-specific education and skills training for
the Indonesian people.

Certainly for the last 30 years, we have made enormous strides
in economic development. But have we done enough to progress
mentally? For a middle-class Jakartan like me, it's been both
comic and tragic to witness a compatriot whizzing by in a late
model Mercedes, almost sideswiping other vehicles, racing to beat
a red light, and to top it off, throwing a banana peel out of the
window. Never saw anything of this sort? You probably haven't
lived here long enough.

We seem to have gone too far in too short a time. Trappings of
success are substitutes for the true substance of success. Why
our nouveau riche try to lord it over the numerous have-nots is
beyond me. Deep-seated feelings of unworthiness and a need to
compensate, perhaps? Why can't people of wealth spend less money
on ostentatious, frivolous things which only add to our national
import bills?

The funds saved by the government should go towards vocational
training, skills enhancement, teachers' training, and improved
primary schools -- where people can start to learn the basics to
earn a decent living. Oh yes, perhaps better driving schools and
teaching what rules are for should be included.

FARID BASKORO

Jakarta