Responsibility of all rich people

I am writing in response to Hafiansyah Mege's letter of Oct. 20, entitled "Two-way conspiracy".

I have no comment on the definition of "indigenous" and "nonindigenous", as this definition depends on the angle from which the matter is viewed. I do not agree with the following statement by Hafiansyah: "Despite their supremacy economically, the Chinese have never really cared about the life of indigenous people." This statement seems to be true and sounds nice to the ears of laymen in general. No wonder many of our community figures and intellectuals, particularly those wishing to be considered populist, have often made similar statements in the mass media.

I agree that every civilized person, irrespective of his or her ethnic origin, assumes a moral obligation to care for fellow human beings who live a less fortunate life, again regardless of their ethnic background (indigenous as well as nonindigenous). Therefore, not only well-off Chinese but also rich indigenous people have the same moral obligation to care for the poor. In the context of Hafiansyah's statement above, a question may be asked whether the rich indigenous people who form a conspiracy partnership with the Chinese care better for the fate and the lives of their fellow indigenous people who are in poverty. The answer is obvious: they don't care, either. It turns out that the majority of well-off people, irrespective of their ethnic origin, never care for the poor. Just look around you. What have the majority of rich people (of any ethnic group) done in the interest of the poor? Nothing!

Therefore, people need an institute called a state, in which the government is made up of the representatives of the people assigned and obligated to care for and pay attention to the welfare of the citizens. If most of the people are still poor, it is the government, which runs the state, that must care most and assume the greatest responsibility because it is the government that is mandated by the constitution to care and be responsible for the welfare of the people. This mandate is vested in the government alone, and not in the ethnic Chinese or other ethnic groups. It is most unfair if, owing to one's ethnic background, someone must assume a bigger responsibility than people from other ethnic groups in our nation.

HANDOYO

Semarang, Central Java