Modest lives please

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