Replacing rupiah with dollar?

Replacing rupiah with dollar?

From Warta Kota

Amid the continued depreciation of the rupiah, Steve Hanke,
who was once skyrocketed to fame when he introduced the currency
board system idea, is now plugging another remedy -- replacing
the rupiah with the U.S. dollar. He believes the rupiah is no
longer wanted, nor is it kept or stored.

It's OK for Steve to make such a conclusion since he is not an
Indonesian. While replacing the rupiah does not necessarily mean
pawning the country, I believe any Indonesian (apart from
nationalists) would certainly not pawn his country because it
means banishing the national image. Are we willingly to replace
our main meal with the hamburger, and our favorite dishes with
fried chicken or spaghetti?

If we do replace the rupiah with the U.S. dollar, in the years
to come our younger generations would have no national identity.
They would not know their national heroes. They would have no
idea about the beauty of their country's flora and fauna, which
are printed on the currency. Instead, they would only know Uncle
Sam whose face different is from an Indonesian's. Accordingly, I
would like to point out how important it is for our national
leaders to strive for economic recovery without ever desiring to
pawn the country, let alone sell the nation's sovereignty. If our
neighboring Asian countries have been able to overcome their
economic crises without becoming slaves to any superpower
country, why should we? Are we no longer able to do our best to
follow our neighbors?

Those who often call themselves the leaders of this country,
who often feel proud of what they did for this country decades
ago, should not be proud of anything before they can prove to the
people they are striving for an Indonesia with the required
morale.

TAUFIK KARMADI

Jakarta