People's money
People's money
I am concerned to hear the news about the planned increase of
salaries of the government officials, the ministers, the
President and the Vice President. Are they not heroes of reform?
Don't they wish to enhance the people's living standard, uphold
justice and human rights, when they get the ruling position?
Don't they wish to build and lead the nation towards a better and
intelligent future? Do they still have the right to be called
patriotic reformists?
In the past they cried: Crush corruptors, uphold justice and
protect little people, and so on. I do not mean that they should
not be allowed to enjoy higher wages. But why not give priority
to improve the income of the low-salaried employees within the
next two years? Only after the little people are satisfied with
their life condition can the higher officials consider their own
rights.
The ordinary people do not only need improvement of their
situation in terms of money but no less important is protection
against arbitrary actions of their bosses -- either in private
companies, foreign firms or in the families. They really need the
government protection nowadays for their rights are being abused.
The Manpower Minister should be willing to survey the real
situation in the field to find out the first hand information of
the less fortunate people. If necessary, the government should
issue an instruction to the private companies to the effect that
they should not necessarily use the regional minimum wage
regulation as base of the employees' pay, simply because it is
not comparable to the huge profit they make.
The regional minimum wage should actually be raised by 100 to
200 percent. How can one expect one to live a decent life with an
income ranging from Rp 230,000 to Rp 280,000 a month? How can you
make ends meet from such a meager income?
The government should be held responsible for the increasing
number of the unemployed and should open new employment
opportunities before things go from bad to worse, if criminality
is to be eradicated. If only the government has the political
will, things will get going. A lot of opportunities are open
which can be used to upgrade the life of the people.
YOSES
Jakarta