National repentance

From Forum Keadilan

A series of calamities has bedeviled our country in recent months, the impact of which is well beyond our comprehension. The nation may now have to go through a period of collective introspection.

Three catastrophes rocked Indonesia in 1997 and tarnished the country's reputation with the rest of the world. First, sporadic rioting caused damage to property and claimed numerous lives.

Second, fires, made worse by prolonged drought, destroyed thousands of hectares of forest and sent a pall of smoke across large parts of Indonesia and neighboring countries. Coping with the fire disaster required the assistance of foreign teams, including a team from the United Nations. The drought is also thought to be the prime cause of famine suffered in some parts of this country.

Third is the current economic crisis, marked by the liquidation of 16 poorly managed private banks, price hikes and a plunge in the value of the rupiah against the U.S. dollar. Not even aid packages from the IMF and other sources were capable of stabilizing Indonesia's economy. Experts, who used to proclaim possible solutions, now say this crisis is beyond our competence. In other words, they too are incapable of predicting what will happen next.

Now, in examining these catastrophes, we must ask ourselves if they occurred almost simultaneously by accident. Of extraordinary magnitude and mysterious nature, these disasters have come when Indonesia, as a developing country, has begun to show its face in the world community.

I support Amien Rais in his call for national repentance, because all that has happened might be nothing short of an act of God. Only by submitting to God, and trusting Him to present the right solution, will He bestow His grace of a restored and stable economic life. Is not this world, and all that exists in it, the result of His creation in the first place?

D. MAMUSUNG

Batam, Riau