People express dissapointment,

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Five years have passed since the reform movement was first demanded by students from various universities in the capital and other major cities in the country.

Many things have happened after the demand - including the riots that erupted in Jakarta and other cities and the downfall of former president Soeharto.

People have made sacrifices. Some lost their families in the students movements -- the four Trisakti University students were recognized as heroes of reform -- others lost family members in the riots.

But life goes on for many Indonesians. However, after five years, some have expressed their dissatisfaction, disappointment over the reform and the condition of the country at present.

Below are interviews from a wide range of people.

Nabiel Makarim, State Minister for the Environment.

We must distinguish reform from revolution and peace coup. In revolution, there is a drastic change in the state, a high number of fatalities and strict line between pro and anti-revolution. But reform means the change in managing our country is gradual, and victims are few, and no strict line between pro and anti- reform.

Therefore, those who lead the country must be clever in setting up main agendas to resolve the country problems. At present, everyone can see that the main agenda of the government is to resolve conflicts in Papua, Aceh and other restive areas to maintain the unity of Indonesia.

We can see that tension in those areas has decreased although it is heating up again currently.

The next step is to improve the macroeconomic condition, which is still not really impressive.

Then we should fight corruption. If the government dares to do so in the first place, until now we might be still fighting each other on the street.

So reform is still underway, it does not stop.

Ay, 22, is a fourth year student at Atma Jaya University and a Chinese-Indonesian who lives in West Jakarta.

First of all, I'd like to say that I am very appreciative of the students, in 1998, who did an unbelievably courageous thing, but now the politicians and leaders have ruined the whole spirit of reform with their lies, corruption and manipulation of the term, reformasi for their own political gain. It is sad and tragic.

As a Chinese-Indonesian, I don't know if I speak for all, but most of my friends and family still harbor a great of amount of distrust for the government/bureaucracy. We have been victimized too many times in this country's history, and do not easily forget that one spark could start it all over again for whatever reason.

We feel that we cannot win, especially when it comes to the justice system -- from an average traffic accident to the rapes that occurred five years ago. The entire government and bureaucracy is made up of people who do not have respect for us and will abuse their position -- despite the newly created laws calling for an end to discrimination -- to victimize us.

I still have many, many friends who are not even considered full Indonesian citizens!

Apart from the Chinese-Indonesian issues, however, I feel that reform was the right path, we can't go back, and hopefully the current problems with bad leaders and corruption is just a kind of growing pain as democracy is now in its infancy, and in the long-term, it will be better for all of us who live in Indonesia, no matter what color or religion we are.

Ismira Lutfhia, a public affairs officer at a multinational company.

The reform movement has changed the life of Indonesians, particularly in freedom of expression which is a basic need. It is a human right and a part of democracy so we must thank those in the reform movement.

History has proven that freedom of expression in many fields such as politics, science and culture have enabled many countries to advance.

Since Indonesia is still in the euphoria of freedom after 32- year of former president Soeharto's ruling, many people use freedom as they like, which I can't understand. I think we need to start controlling our freedom. Don't use freedom of expression excessively to legitimize our action.

The government must establish a better education system to make people more critical so they could establish their own judgment when they must limit their freedom.

On the negative side, I'm worried over the rampant crime in the country and the government's inability to curb widespread corruption.

Our leaders currently may think that they must conduct corrupt practices as it is their turn to be rich. If they don't do it now, they can't be prosperous anymore as we may not choose them in the near future.

However, people should not be hopeless with the current reform as it is a process where all of us must be involved to improve things that have yet to be achieved.

Sari Nila, public relations personnel at PT Marmitria Raya Tirta.

I don't think life has gotten better in the last five years.

Firstly, the economy is not getting better. In fact it's getting worse. People involved in business need to have a stable economic condition. Otherwise businesspeople won't get any profits.

Many investors decline to put their money in our country due to our economic situation.

I think the farmers and villagers suffer the most from the worsened economic condition. Before 1997, they could buy motorbikes but now they have to sell them.

Secondly, the people in the government and our legislators are no smarter than those under Soeharto's administration.

Take B.J. Habibie for example. He was able to control the exchange rate against the U.S. dollar -- from Rp 15,000 to Rp 9,000 -- which was great. Nobody else could ever do that.

The officials' quality is not even better. They are also corrupt. Back then, almost all officials were corrupt but at least they knew what to do.

I'd rather go back to the era before reform. Everybody was happy, now everybody is complaining with the skyrocketing prices.

I don't believe that all Indonesians wanted reform. I strongly believe that reform was only proposed by a group of political elite who has had an ambition to rule this country.

They don't need to shout out 'reform' jargon, it's more important for them to do their job. Sorry, but I don't believe in reform.

Santi, 28, a housewife living in Bintaro area, Tangerang.

I don't think my life has gotten better in the last five years. If it had, the company where I used to work wouldn't have gone bankrupt and I wouldn't lose my job.

What's the better condition nowadays? The U.S. dollar's exchange rate is higher. Five years ago, it was only Rp 2,500 for US$1 but now it's more than three times higher. Every thing is also expensive now while my husband's salary has not increased that high.

I personally think everything remains the same, it's just different people. Back then, Soeharto's family ruled everything, now it's Taufik Kiemas. At least, that's what I've heard from my husband's colleagues.

It's not easy to change our people's mindset as they had lived under the same doctrine for over 30 years. It's easy to say what to do but it's always difficult to implement it, moreover apply it for millions of Indonesians.

Actually, there are still many idealist people in our country but since they are not part of a certain party they could not be in power. Unfortunately, those who join political parties are the ambitious ones. They always forget their promises made during the campaign period.

People who have power nowadays only think of how to get a break-even-point as they had spend millions of rupiah for the campaign. If they only rely on their salaries, it won't be enough.

How can reform go on if the political elite still have that kind of mindset, thinking of earning money for themselves? Even the haves still search for money, what about the poor?

Bimo Chondro, an artist living in Jakarta.

The best thing about reform is freedom of speech, which is very good now. During Soeharto's regime, we could never get any truthful news, but now officials' corruption can be disclosed by the press. The openness can also be seen in TV where many stations now have programs discussing sex.

If we talk about the economic condition, it was definitely better during Soeharto's regime as the exchange rate of US$ was only Rp 2,000.

The security is worsening. Back then we could walk around all night without any fear. We used to have petrus (mysterious shooters) who killed many thugs. But now even in our own car we are scared of criminals.

To be frank, I don't understand reform. All I know is there was only one person shouting about reform: Amien Rais. Even Megawati said she never initiated reform.

I think in general the reform movement is not moving anywhere. Corruption is getting worse thanks to the regional autonomy which allows officials in provinces to enrich themselves.

If the reform movement is returned to the goal: Eradicate KKN (corruption, collusion and nepotism), then that would be great. A clean government, whoever the president is, will create a better Indonesia.

I hope our political elite can understand that. They should work together to rule this country instead of condemning each other.

Andrew Linggar, 31, manager of Octagon Photography Services.

Reform has allowed most of us to speak freely which could not be done before reform. Unfortunately, we are not mature enough yet with differences caused by such openness. Some people are very sensitive because they are not used to the openness.

But basically I don't think there has been any major improvements -- especially in politics. Well, staying where we were five years ago is already a drawback because we should have made more progress by now.

The problem is not whether the reform has failed or not but the system has been rotten for a very, very long time. Not to mention that our current government does not have a long-term vision.

Look at other Asian countries. Malaysia, for example, is doing its best to boost the information technology sector.

Another example is the Chinese government which is also doing its utmost to promote the filming industry to convey other images and perspectives of China.

Personally, I do hope for a better Indonesia but have to be patient because I know it'll still take a long time.

We need a major breakthrough while most of us are already satisfied with what and where we are now.

Ratna Wulansari, 30, project control engineer for a construction project management company.

We have to admit that it is more open now thanks to the reform movement but still it is not transparent.

In some cases, the situation is even worse than in the past. Now corruption is rife everywhere. People are just openly corrupt now as they don't feel ashamed of it compared to before the reform.

There has been little progress made in five years. We still have to work hard to reach the reform ideals.

But I don't want all of us to return to the old regime because it is much better now. What we have to do is change the current regime with totally new people. Those who are in power are still the old players.

Yulina Setianingsih Duhri, 26, a freelance writer.

I think the condition now is getting worse than before reform. There was a slight improvement under President B.J. Habibie back then but the condition then declined steadily especially in the economic sector.

The number of unemployed people is rising as well as the prices of basic commodities and rates of basic services. Most of poor people can no longer stand such a condition.

Security has also deteriorated. I no longer feel safe to travel at night, unlike before reform.

But I think we must continue the reform process because it has brought, among other things, press freedom to us. Megawati, however, seems to try to control and limit the press freedom.

What we really need is a total regime change including the people, not only the leader. We expected that everything would become better once Soeharto was toppled. But it did not work that way.

Dadan Umar Daihani, an expert in electricity and currently heads the Department of Research and Development at Trisakti University, Jakarta. He actively collaborated with the student movement in 1998.

The situation in general is getting better nowadays, in a sense that Indonesia has a chance for change. However, despite the opportunity, it seems that our leaders are still not able to materialize the dreams of reform.

Corruption remains rampant in the country. The quality of our human resources is still lagging behind other countries, we are even ranked eighth out of the 10 countries within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

It is not exaggerating to say that we are currently in an extraordinary situation.

As we conclude that the leaders have failed to make changes, we are currently in dire need of new blood in leadership positions. We need leaders who are honest, keen to make changes and able to take lessons from the past.

Herman Susanto, 34, a coaching businessman.

I always look for the silver lining in every thing, including this reform era. I think reform is good for us since now we see freedom of speech and press freedom.

My family has run a medium-sized shipping business since 1992. But both in the New Order or in the reform era, we have to encounter pay illegal fees in order to keep the business going. Regarding that, I don't see much change.

When the May riots broke out in 1998, I was in Singapore, but my family was in Jakarta. We deemed living in Indonesia was not safe for us, so we decided to move abroad temporarily. But when we saw the security here was getting better, we decided to return home.

I am now happy seeing how the Chinese-Indonesian community is widely accepted. Now we can celebrate Chinese New Year and see Mandarin-language advertisements in public places such as shopping malls.

And I think reform is good for business players, especially for new players, since I see more opportunities are opened by the changes in business politics. I see less KKN (corruption, collusion, nepotism) practices in business.

I acknowledge that the economy was more stable in Soeharto's era than that in reform. However, stability is not necessarily good. For me, in business, changes are a challenge.

I often travel to Singapore. I like it there, as it is clean and safe. I can go home at 2 a.m. without any worries. However, I prefer to live in Indonesia since it offers many business opportunities for me.

Vicky, 25, a former student activist who took part in the 1998 student movement demanding reform. Now he is working as a chicken breeder at a poultry farm in Pekanbaru, Riau.

I don't see my life and my fellow Indonesians' life is better than five years ago, especially because nowadays life is not structured, it's all in disarray.

I can understand that. Indonesia is like a baby and forced to quickly run. The condition turns everything into a mess.

I consider my demonstration days are not all worthless because as we all can see now, the condition is more conducive for us to voice our mind freely than we used to.

Such a liberal condition, however, should be followed by a mature control mechanism, because without one everybody would scream their thoughts unrestrained, which could violate someone else's right.

Maybe, it's the nature of Indonesians, that we need to be controlled to some extent.

We should realize that when everybody yell, who can listen? Whatever happens, we need to be conscious of restraining and controlling ourselves. Moreover, we need to learn how and fast.

Again, the reform era is young and naturally it will there will be some teething pain, like a baby, then the time will come when the "baby" can choose on its own.

Utut Adianto, 38, a chess Grand Master and graduate of Padjadjaran University specializing in political science.

The reform movement has hardly touched the national sports world. Athletes, like any other people in general, indeed now have the courage to speak up.

But their well-being has not improved. It is the same as before. If the barometer of our national sport's progress is how we perform at a multi-event sporting showcase, then we have been suffering a setback given our athletes' performance at the SEA Games in the past five years.

We need to decide whether sports should be pushed and supported for national pride in the international arena or should it just be taken up as a routine activity.

If our goal is to make the national sports to on a standard where we can compete internationally, there is no other way but to set aside the budget to finance sports development.

It appears that the reform movement has had no positive correlation with sports. Sports have been neglected. The liquidation of the office of state minister of sports and youth affairs is an obvious proof that the government neglects sports.

I haven't seen any reformist interested in any sport, or those who have taken steps to improving our sports.

Urmy Sungkar, chairman of the Indonesian hotel and restaurant association, Batam Chapter and also director of PT Kawasan Pembangunan Nongsa, Batam Island.

I think everything is getting rowdier now, that is what I can sum up from the current situation.

Reform means renewal, but reality tells us that what transpires is quite the contrary. Our sacrifices have not been worthwhile.

As of now, I don't see many changes in Indonesia. There are many things that still need to be improved. But if things are getting worse, what can we say about them. I don't know where to start with the improvement.

I assume the reform movement is stalled because most of Indonesians are not yet ready to undertake it. To me as a businessman, there are a lot of uncertainties, laws are still violated, illegal charges imposed on businesspeople are still rampant and show an increasing trend. All this shows that reform is not underway.

However, we must not lose hope, change will come. I take life as a wheel, it keeps on rolling, the bottom will, in time, be elevated to the top. The question is will we be strong enough to endure the test? But I am assured that one day we will rise.

The reform should start with the government first. They should be more responsive to the demands from the people. It should give more incentives to the business community, instead of inflicting more burden.

Bambang Susanto Priyohadi, is a secretary of the Yogyakarta provincial administration.

For one thing, since the reform movement began, we have all witnessed a big change in people's willingness to voice their opinions, although I have also noticed that many go too far. Some often articulate their wishes without a clear framework.

In regards efforts to create a clean government, which means eliminating practices of KKN (corruption, collusion and nepotism), I have to admit that there have been dynamic and progressive changes in regional administrations, particularly in their organization and budgetary systems.

In many regions, including those outside Java, a performance- based budgetary system has generally worked in place of the old and routine development budgetary system, which was prone to KKN practices. Yogyakarta, too, plans to implement the new budgetary system next week.

It seems to me that most regional governments in the country have been better prepared than the central government to realize the reform agenda. The central government has not even established a minimum standard of public service during the last five years, and has only produced numerous contradictory regulations.

In this case, I suggest that the President form a special team whose main task is to coordinate and evaluate the application of the reform agenda.

In general, I can say that the reform movement has been moving along in the sense that we have succeeded in eliminating the psychological barrier we inherited from the past, although we still need to change our mind-set and values further.

Suparbedo, 35, owns a construction consultancy in Yogyakarta.

I have the feeling that the reform movement has been generally going along the right track. But I have also noticed that there are many parties or individuals who have been taking advantage of the reform agenda for their own benefit and interests.

As a result, reform is proceeding very slowly and sometimes is also marred by conflicts of interests here and there. The political elites are fighting each other for their own interests and the interests of their respective groups.

If we do nothing to resolve this and such conflicts of interests are left unsettled, I'm afraid we will not only fail to achieve the objectives of the reform movement, but we will also never be able to make any reforms at all.

What is also worrisome is the fact that the reform movement has failed to eradicate KKN practices. In fact, the situation is worsening, as the practices now involve not only the executive, but also the legislative, branch.

I have to admit that control as exercised by the legislative branch is there, but the money allocated toward certain goals is much greater now, because we have to pay more individuals.

Sumarni, 35, is a housewife in Yogyakarta.

The reform movement is nothing but a complete failure. The proof is simple and obvious: We have to spend more money for almost everything, while the family's income shrinks.

Unemployment is everywhere, violence and crimes are on the rise, not to mention the various conflicts as the one in Aceh. People are fighting each other and at the same time, corruption, collusion and nepotism practices make the headlines of newspapers across the country.

Can we truly say that reform has brought us goodness?

The reform movement can be considered successful only when we see improvements in people's welfare, when basic commodities are sold at reasonable prices and people live together in harmony -- and when corrupters are brought to justice and sentenced fairly.

Eka Santosa, is speaker of the West Java provincial legislature.

Many unfinished businesses remain after five years of reform in the country, particularly in economy and law enforcement. But as a member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, I believe President Megawati Soekarnoputri has brought improvement to this nation.

It would be ideal if we could attain all of the reform goals, but the problem is, we have succeeded an evil regime and we cannot eliminate its legacy entirely -- particularly those individuals of the past regime who are still occupying posts in either the government or the legislature.

We cannot turn a blind eye toward the progress we have made so far in our democracy. We are free to articulate our opinions, even if they are different from the government's stance, and even if they oppose the central government's attempt to meddle with our business.

I suggest that the current government create more economic policies that will benefit as many people of the lower-income bracket as possible. The people's welfare is the indicator by which to measure the success of a government.

Megawati should have the guts to make unpopular policies that will benefit the majority. Complaints are on the rise among the public, who say that unlike the Soeharto era, it us more difficult now to earn money, even dirty money.

Ine Febriyanti, is an actress who lives in Jakarta.

One thing for sure, there we now have freedom of expression. Our press has become more open in its coverage, for example. But other things are still as complicated as they were before.

Such freedom of expression allows us artists to have more creative freedom, compared to when we were still under the New Order regime.

My latest play, for example, Ekstrim, would not have been possible without the current environment of freedom of expression.

On the other hand, such expression has allowed so many people to stage so many rallies on so many different issues. The public is sometimes confused about which rallies really express our concerns.

I still do hope that we can eventually build a new Indonesia, although we may be having a difficult time now. I think it is part of our maturing process, if we want to be a great nation. There are many examples throughout history that countries must endure many struggles before it can emerge a mature country.

As for myself, there's not much difference between before and after the reform movement regarding to my getting parts. I do not really engage in commercial acting parts and play mostly artistic ones, so the impact is almost nil.

Iga Mawarni, is a jazz singer living in Jakarta.

There are several improvements, such as the freedom of expression and the fact that the government is no longer authoritarian.

On the other hand, though, there are some drawbacks, such as that some groups in society want to force their will upon other groups, or refuse to be more transparent.

Nevertheless, it is part of the long process of development, although we have to admit that other Asian countries are coping with the economic crisis faster.

The crisis opened the eyes of those countries, and they also quickly learned from it.

I don't think returning to an authoritarian regime is an option, because we have to continue with the reform. Still, we cannot look to each other to start something.

It is also important for our leaders to set an example for the people and take a firm stand against those who oppose the reform movement. These people will do anything to stop, or at least hinder, the reform movement.

We also have to make a commitment to continue the reform movement to create a better Indonesia.

It may be late for us, because it has been five years now, but I do believe that most Indonesians live by the principle of alon- alon asal kelakon (slowly but surely).

Oyong Karmayudha, is a secretary general of the National Sports Council (KONI) as well as president of the Asia Pacific Pencak Silat Federation. He is also a former KAMI activist of the 1966 student movement.

I think the reform movement has passed its boundaries and no longer believes in the ideals that were being fought for. No wonder so many people say that it was better under the old regime.

For example, security was deemed much, much better under Soeharto's rule. So was legal certainty, because people still respected the law back then.

Look at what's happening now. People can take justice into their own hands like burning thieves or other kinds of street justice.

We all know that legal supremacy is something we fought for during reform era. All I feel now is mounting disappointment.

Our people no longer have any sense of ethics, tolerance or wisdom.

I believe that we must put the reform movement back on track, although this will be a difficult thing to do. I don't think those who are accustomed to and are taking advantage of the current climate are willing to change.

However, I have not lost my hope for the reform movement, because we can still fix it together. In order to do this, we need our national leaders to take the initiative to draft a national commitment and execute it in the proper manner.

All this political commotion has, to some extent, affected the sports world, because unstable politics leads to a weak economy, at a time when most sports organizations still depend on contributions for their financial survival.

The government itself can do very little to help the sports sector, but at the same time, they demand the athletes to perform well to help fix Indonesia's image.

But how can we perform well at the regional and international levels if we do not have enough competitions at home?

Since the government can't help us, then it is up to us to simply do our best despite the hardships we are suffering -- not only in sports, but also in other fields.

Ferdy Hasan, 29, is a TV announcer and model.

Are you kidding? Just watch Buser and other similar crime programs on television. Where do you think they get the content (for their news) from?

Somebody should do something about the crime rate. I would feel a lot safer then.

Baharuddin Aritonang, is a legislator of the Golkar faction:

I think the results of the reform movement that began five years ago is so-so. There are some achievements, but also some goals that have yet to be achieved.

We can see some progresses in state management. The Constitution has been amended, laws have been revised. We are still waiting to see their implementation.

Besides the progress in the infrastructure, though, we still see that the mentality of the state leaders and politicians have not been reformed. Politicians often cannot accept the victory of others.

In the legislation process, I see the factions in the House of Representatives (DPR) are more transparent and responsive. Each faction is more willing to accommodate the aspirations of the people in the deliberation of bills.

Public participation and control of the media will definitely improve the quality of legislation.

Unfortunately, the reform movement is misunderstood by the elite of regional administrations. Widespread money politics was often reported during regional gubernatorial and regental elections.

We ask that our friends in non-governmental organizations continue their criticisms.

In the recruitment of legislative members, the reform movement has encouraged the inclusion of politicians with varying backgrounds. Legislative institutions have been filled with people with differing educational backgrounds and levels of competency and discipline. In this regard, though, I think legislators in the past had better discipline.

Candra Wijaya, 28, is a professional badminton player, who won a gold in the men's doubles at the 2000 Olympics and at the 1997 World Championships.

I see that freedom of speech and democracy has improved after the reform. Unfortunately, the opposite holds true in the economy. Many people still live in poverty, while the gap between the rich and the poor grows wider.

As an athlete, I'm very pessimistic about development of sports in the country. The government pays no attention at all to sports. They don't have any sports development programs. I'm afraid that within 10 years, we will be left behind by other Southeast Asian countries, although we used to be number one in this region.

I still hope the government will eventually pay attention to athletes' welfare. In other countries, champions are always rewarded, like with lifetime pensions or cash bonuses.

Of course, I received a check from a private company when I won in the Olympics, but I also had to pay tax on the bonus. Instead of giving me money, the government got money from me off my bonus.

For the future, the government must focus on the two most important aspects: Law and education. I hope there won't be discrimination toward Chinese-Indonesians like myself anymore. I also hope more and more citizens can enjoy their right to education.

Indonesia needs a leader who is smart, responsible and able to set an example for the people. The political elite should not be selfish by thinking about their own, or their group's, benefit. They must pay more attention to the people.

Roy Suryo, is a lecturer and IT consultant:

Well, as a lecturer and an information technology consultant, I think my life hasn't changed much, with or without the reform movement. The condition and the mind-set of our society remain the same.

There are, of course, some changes -- we're more democratic now and are free to speak our minds. Four years after the reform, I must say that there was no development at all in our country, because we were busy with the political unrest of a constantly changing leadership.

However, in the last six months there has been a slight improvement in our country. A lot of infrastructure development has happened.

All the projects halted after the 1998 financial crisis were gradually restarted, such as the flyover and the Jakarta Outer Ring Road project, the telecommunication infrastructure and many more.

It's only within these last six months that I and many IT businessmen have felt comfortable doing business, because the currency has stabilized and the macroeconomic condition is better for business.

In future, I'd like to see a limitation on political parties, because they just tend to waste the states money. Small parties tend to take advantage of the government's financial assistance, rather than fighting for their constituents.

Another important thing is that the country needs a clean and honest leader who has a strong commitment toward fighting the corruption that has been an inherent part of our society since the Dutch occupation.

It's not hard, but at the very least, we need someone clean to be a good role model for our people.

Ferry Salim, 34, is a graduate of the Art Institute of Seattle, and made his big-screen debut in the lead role in the historical drama Ca-Bau-Kan.

I'm generally happier, because there are things that I wanted to see happen, which was impossible five years ago, like a public celebration of Imlek (Chinese New Year).

"Indonesia is a lighthouse for other countries in the world in all aspects of life" -- somebody said that along time ago, but I can't seem to recall who. Perhaps it was Sukarno, our first president.

You think that's impossible? Too fast? Hey, changes happen and they happen very fast. Just look at Iraq. Yesterday they existed, and today they don't.

Mayong S. Laksono, 42, is a journalist, TV producer and TV announcer.

Personally yes, I'm financially more secure, but if you look out there, there are actually more people without jobs than before. And crime is everywhere. The criminals are above the law!

I would like to see that in 10 years, this country will have a leader with the vision to solve problems. They don't have to be ultra-smart. We have enough smart people leading this country; just someone who can solve problems.

Ade Rai, 33, is an athlete, bodybuilder and businessman.

Yes. My work is better, my personal life is better.

People's awareness about health will improve. In 10 years, people will not feel guilty about telling someone who is smoking to put out their cigarettes.

Bayu Krisnamurti, is the director of the center for development studies at the Bogor University of Agriculture:

As a member of society, the slow growth of the country's macroeconomic sector has influenced my life since the reform era emerged in the country.

Personally, I welcome the spirit of reform in the agricultural sector, as we can build an integrated policy in agriculture to help improve the already ailing sector.

However, the current condition is relatively the same as the New Order era, in which agriculture policies were still focused on the central government.

Worse still, many of the ongoing policies taken by the government, such as in sugar and rice that empowered the State Logistics Agency (Bulog), are exactly the same as the New Order's policy, and this is against the spirit of reform.

We have yet to find a formula to develop the agricultural sector in line with reform.

Still, I am hopeful that reform can be attained if the decision-makers, including the government, the House of Representatives and others, such as experts and representatives of the people, can sit together and seek a way to improve the condition of agriculture.

I hope that the government can create the long-term agricultural policy, rather than the current short-term policy.