Shared burdens, shared rights

The readiness of our tycoons to help the government in maintaining the stability of the rupiah is certainly welcome. Many of them own large enough reserve funds, in rupiah and foreign currencies, to make it reasonable for us to expect them to act in the national interest.

The commitment given by our tycoons demonstrates our collective readiness to put the larger interest before anything else. We know how busy our monetary authorities have been in the past few weeks countering currency speculators who have been playing their game in a number of ASEAN countries. Whatever the reasons, their actions have caused currency rates to fall throughout this region, Indonesia included.

The central point here is that a common understanding is needed; that development is a responsibility and a burden belonging to all of us -- not just the government. This, of course, brings the consequence that the government must be willing to be open regarding the magnitude of the problems that are involved and the weighty burdens that we must bear. People have the right to know, so that they will be able to determine for themselves what contribution they can make in trying to surmount those problems.

Clearly, this calls for a willingness to exchange ideas in the decision making process, so that surprises can be avoided. Decisions that are uncoordinated tend to confuse people, which is unfavorable to our efforts to marshal every possible potential that is at our disposal. Worse, it could very well lead to jolts, rejection or, at the very least, an attitude of indifference.

-- Bisnis Indonesia, Jakarta