Poverty is indeed frightening

Poverty is indeed frightening

How pathetic it is to see the people who live along the
streets between the cities of Semarang and Kudus in Central Java!

Lying along the streets is a river that is nearly dry. In its
murky brown water float garbage from various kinds of organic and
inorganic material.

Think how disgusting it would be for people in their sound
mind to consume such water.

However, people living along that river have no choice but to
make use of the murky water for their daily needs during the long
drought.

This scene between Semarang and Kudus is only a glimpse of the
poverty that afflicts many parts of Indonesia.

Indeed, poverty is a frightening phenomenon that should no
longer be taken for granted. The poverty rate, which once
dropped significantly, has again begun to climb to 16 percent.

If only we open our eyes wide and look at poverty in our
community, especially those in Indonesia's major cities, we can
see that the poverty rate is heading toward an alarming level.

Is there any preventive measure we could take to deal with
this haunting problem?

The destitute people of our country should immediately be
helped before it is too late, because we cannot wait until
tomorrow or next year.

The time is now. Today is the day to help them without any
delay. We simply cannot afford to be neutral in this.

-- Kompas, Jakarta