Sharing the same fate
Sharing the same fate
If we talk about globalization, it covers all segments of life
and it happens in all parts of the world. Let us take for example
corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN). KKN is certainly not
the monopoly of Indonesia. Newspapers reported the scandal in
Germany in which former chancellor Helmut Kohl was involved in
corruption. In China, where the penalty for corruption can be
severe, graft is still rampant.
Poverty: Although refugee camps in East Timor, Maluku and Aceh
are still full of displaced persons, CNN on Feb. 10, 2000,
reported that Japan, the most affluent country in Asia, harbors
6,000 homeless people in Tokyo alone and there are 20,000 in the
entire country. CNN showed the homeless people shivering from the
cold; the temperature in winter can drop below freezing.
Apparently the government provides them with hot meals and
communal barracks, where they find shelter from the potentially
fatal cold.
Ruthlessness: Many expatriates in Indonesia undoubtedly could
not help shuddering from fear when, some time ago, a local TV
station showed a Taiwan woman screaming in anguish when her left
arm was cut off by a hoodlum after she resisted his attempt to
steal her gold ring. BBC TV and the Newsweek edition of Feb. 14
showed Dr. Shipman in London who coldbloodedly murdered 15
elderly women; it is estimated that another 120 women must have
been murdered during his 20 years in practice. That a man whose
task is to save people's lives could do such things is beyond my
understanding.
Newsweek reported that on the pretext of taking a blood
sample, Dr. Shipman would inject a lethal dose of heroin, then
watched as the drug took effect. What is astonishing about the
whole drama is that the motive of the killings is unclear.
Disaster: Local TV reports showed flooded areas in Jakarta. I
have the greatest compassion for people who experience such a
natural disaster. The children on TV were laughing because they
got a swimming pool for free, but they did not realize that the
septic tanks of the houses had overflowed and floods bring
various diseases, such as cholera, dysentery, etc.
On Feb. 11, TV reports showed that many parts of Johannesburg
in South Africa were inundated under two meters of water and 50
people were killed. So if per chance we are the victims of such a
disaster, we can console ourselves with the thought that people
in other parts of the world share the same fate.
A. DJUANA
Jakarta