'Middle class not socially concerned'

JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta's middle class does not have a sufficient level of social awareness which could empower them to improve the city's public services, a sociologist says.

Paulus Wirutomo, a lecturer at the University of Indonesia's school of social and political sciences, said they (middle class people) still expect the government to tackle all problems related to public service.

"Most of them wanted to have organized and tidy sidewalks along Jakarta's roads. But they assume it is the city administration's job to take care of the sidewalks, and in no way involves themselves," he said.

Wirutomo was interviewed yesterday in connection with the recent study conducted by the Kompas daily.

The study found that Jakarta's middle class wants political and social change, but does not want to take any risks.

Wirutomo, who chaired the sociological laboratory at the university, said that such an attitude was typical among members of the big city's middle class.

The lecturer said they spent their time and attention mostly pursuing their own interests because they were afraid of facing the possibility of losing what they had just gained.

The middle class group did not have a tradition of handling an organization or forum to discuss their social interests, which sometimes conflict with each other, he said.

"The result is that they have never solved their own problems or had their problems solved," he said.

He referred to their frequent complaints about traffic congestion in the city, which has reached a point of inefficiency. "They did almost nothing to solve the problem, except complain," he said.

Consumeristic

Wirutomo said he agreed with Kompas' research finding that Jakarta's middle class cared more about economic growth than political freedom.

"Therefore, their lifestyle is becoming more consumeristic," Wirutomo said.

He said industrialization, which the government encouraged, inevitably led the people to a consumeristic attitude, which was not morally wrong.

They began purchasing more and more goods and properties, he said.

Wirutomo said the most mobile members of Jakarta's middle class in economic activities were those who emerged only around the 1980s.

They became members of the middle class only because they were given the opportunity by the New Order government, which they would never think of betraying. (07)