More political openness
More political openness
When I was waiting for a bus at an empty bus stop in Jakarta,
I discovered a photocopy of a pamphlet pinned on the wall. It
drew my attention because of the printed and handwritten messages
it contained. The message conveyed was in a straight tone and
could lead to public tension. It is no wonder that the government
alerted the public to be wary of rumors (The Jakarta Post Sept.
29, 1995).
Nevertheless, circulating pamphlets is one of today's
invisible phenomena. It happens occasionally. This was not the
first rumor mongering pamphlet in the city.
Why do people secretly spread information about problems in
the government? Pointers in this letter might be of use to the
authorities.
The main reason is that real truth is withheld from the
public. Therefore, on top of news reports of such circumstances,
rumors make their mark and may even be assumed first-hand
information and spread like wildfire among the public.
I believe that it would be impossible to round up the culprits
and drown them in the sea. Perhaps this is one of the warning
signals for the system we run today. Access to real information
is limited and those who are courageous enough to dig it up, get
punished.
In developed countries, these things rarely happen since
access to government information is quite easy. Except for state
secrets, of course.
An analogy to the human body speaks for itself. When something
is wrong with our body, the first sign we notice is pain. There
is discomfort, which is actually a good thing to happen,
otherwise we might not know what ails the body.
The human body is a small system on this planet, it is like an
organization running on a multitude of various cells. Cells will
demonstrate if anything is wrong in a number of ways.
We either diagnose or treat the pain in our body with the best
medicine there is. If we do not cure the ailment, the cells will
inevitably go on a rampant spree and undermine the body, until it
gives up and dies.
WAHYUNI RIZKIANA KAMAH
Jakarta