RI keeps public in the dark over potential Y2K failures

RI keeps public in the dark over potential Y2K failures

By Jocelyn Gecker

JAKARTA (AP): After two years of anti-government riots and
economic turmoil, Indonesia's technology gurus thought it best to
keep the public in the dark about possible widespread failures
from the Y2K computer bug.

"It's a touchy issue," says Widijanto Nugroho, a computer
scientist and top government Y2K adviser. "If the government
says, for example, the banks are not ready, people will rush the
banks. If we don't say anything, it's probably better for the
moment."

So Indonesia's leaders have opted to keep the world's fourth
most populous nation uninformed.

Newspapers and TV shows barely mention the potential fallout
of the computer glitch. Cabinet ministers are on orders not to
talk it up.

"Here, less than 20 percent of the people know about Y2K,"
Djamhari Sirat, head of Indonesia's national Y2K task force, said
of this archipelago nation of 210 million. "We don't think anyone
needs to know about Y2K except the government, the police and the
military."

As most of Southeast Asia girds for turn-of-the-century
millennium bug trouble, experts fear the hardest-hit nation will
be Indonesia - where they say neither computers nor the public
are adequately prepared.

With only a few more weeks until the moment of reckoning,
nations in the region appear to be at varying degrees of Y2K
readiness. Most say they moved fast to modify their computers
after setbacks from two years of financial collapse. And most
have sounded a public alarm.

In the Philippines, citizens have been advised to prepare for
the rollover to 2000 "like a typhoon is coming" by stockpiling
five days worth of canned goods, cash and candles.

In techno-dense Singapore, considered among the world's best-
prepared nations, the government has mass-mailed a "Y2K Guide" to
all 950,000 homes that explains how to debug personal computers,
VCRs and other appliances.

Malaysia, which secured a $100 million World Bank loan earlier
this year to help pay for computer fixes, has assured its
citizens the military and police will deal with any threats to
public safety or national security.

In Indonesia, the strategy is different: No national awareness
campaign and no talk of contingency plans. Talking to a random
sampling of three dozen people in Jakarta's traditional markets
and upscale shopping malls found most couldn't care less about
the millennium bug.

"Only rich people use computers; I'll be fine," said Andy
Setiawan, 33, owner of a small TV shop who had never heard of the
Y2K bug, the legacy of computers being programmed to express
years in just two digits - so 2000 could be misinterpreted as
1900, causing crashes and lost data.

A. Syafik, a 23-year-old accountant, said if it was something
to be concerned about the government would warn people. "They're
not paying attention to it, why should I?"

Indonesian officials insist critical computer systems will be
ready and don't expect major disruptions. But they offer no
independent verification and analysts think otherwise.

"They are not going to be Y2K compliant, and my concern is
that the people are not going to know what to do when problems
occur," said K.C. Toh, who advises the government on Y2K matters.

Bruce Gale, a regional manager at Political and Economic Risk
Consultancy, also is worried. "Indonesian banks certainly haven't
had any money to put into Y2K readiness plans. They're spending
their money on pure survival. The other area of concern is
airports."

Although large areas of Indonesia are not dependent on
computers, experts say that if power and telephones fail, the
repercussions could be serious.

Regional Y2K consultants and diplomats voice concerns about
Indonesia's financially strapped state-owned power company,
Perusahaan Listrik Negara, and Telkom, the main telephone service
provider.

Telkom, which was supposed to be Y2K compliant months ago,
raised eyebrows after pushing its deadline back to December.

"We have to be prepared for the fact that there will be a
deterioration in the telecommunications service," said Ichyar
Musa, founder of a independent watchdog group called Indonesian
Y2K Watch.

Predicting where Y2K failures will strike, and how severe they
will be, is nearly impossible.