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