Modest lives please

Mr. Amien Rais has said that he and the deputy speakers, as well as all members of the People's Consultative Assembly/House of People's Representatives (MPR/DPR), are fighters for the reform movement. Their task will be formulating decrees and legislation and amending the 1945 Constitution, state's policy (GBHN) and stipulations in order to guarantee the creation of a reformist state. It will also be wise if all members, speakers and deputy speakers of the MPR/DPR become real patriots and pioneers in modest living. This will be an appropriate way to prevent or at least reduce intentions to become involved in corruption, collusion and cronyism, which is usually manifested in a luxurious, extravagant, smart, fashionable and consumptive manner of living.

I am most convinced that most of our people will greatly respect the people's representatives and house speakers/deputy speakers who are modestly dressed. Instead of wearing suits and ties, they should encourage the use of local clothing like batik and Samarinda woven cloth. Instead of wearing black caps, they may put on headgear from other regions in the country to reflect our uniqueness and our love for our diverse national dress. It would be nice to see people wearing various kinds of national dress at official/state events.

Suits and ties are a Western style of dressing and are actually not suitable for a tropical country like Indonesia. If this suggestion is be accepted, the advantages are, among others: it will boost production of national dress materials; it will cut down on expenses (a suit costs about Rp 1,5000,000, while batik dress is available for Rp 250,000) and it will promote our national dress to foreign tourists and expatriates.

Besides, modest living should also be shown by replacing Volvos with Kijangs or other automobiles, up to a maximum price of Rp 200 million. House speakers and deputies speaker are to be respected not because of their Volvos, but because of their readiness to live a modest life. In this way they can prove that they really fight for the interests of the people they represent, and do not pursue personal gains attached to their positions.

It is also good to publicize the salaries and facilities available to members of DPR/MPR so that the community will be able to see whether the budget allocated to their representatives is proper or not, and whether or not it is compatible with the difficult economic conditions in the country at present.

So, MPR/DPR members must prove their pioneering spirit by adopting a modest pattern of life.

H. WISDARMANTO

Jakarta