`She's an incompetent leader'

With the country still mired in an economic crisis, President Megawati Soekarnoputri has called on people to live modestly and to tighten their belts. Of course, many people found it hard to take the President seriously considering her own lifestyle, which few of her fellow Indonesians would describe as modest. The Jakarta Post talked to a number of Jakartans about the issue.

Lutfi, 37, is a motorcycle taxi driver in Palmerah, West Jakarta. He lives in Palmerah with his wife and three daughters:

As the President, Megawati should have thought over her words before speaking them in public. Her words, if I may say, were really an insult to poor people like me.

The poor have been struggling to survive for so long now. Her promises to side with the ordinary people have never been realized. She talks nonsense!

The call should have been addressed to the rich and ultimately to the President herself and her family.

I would be happy to see her learn how to live like the poor. She was born to a rich family and doesn't know how the poor deal with their daily lives.

Osi, 26, works at a cargo company in West Jakarta. She resides in Petukangan, South Jakarta, with her family:

We don't need her (Megawati) urging us to live thrifty lifestyles. We have always lived in poverty.

I already have learned how to tighten my belt because I only earn less than Rp 500,000 a month. Honestly, I still need financial support from my elder siblings and from my parents to survive each month. Doesn't she think that my life is thrifty?

She is not an ideal figure for a president. She has so far remained silent despite the unfavorable situation and the rampant corruption in the country. If she gives a statement, it's not her words but her subordinates' words.

I think it would be better for her to step down and for all her Cabinet members to resign. They're no longer credible as leaders of this country.

A'ak, 33, is a food vendor who lives in Petamburan, Central Jakarta. He supports his wife and a daughter, who live in Cirebon, West Java:

I don't think it's appropriate for Megawati, as the president, to call on the entire country to live modestly. What she said had really upset the poor.

We don't need her to tell us this because we are accustomed to living in poverty.

I think what she said should be seen as a call for her to live modestly, because she has never lived in unfortunate conditions. Such a call should also be directed at the high-ranking officials and her own family to learn how to live a simple life from the poor people.

The most important thing to remember is that the poor only need to be able to afford the staple foods.

We don't demand anything beyond our capacity as poor people. We just need stable prices so that as a vendor I can run my business and support my family.

I don't care who is president as long as they can ease the lives of the poor.

Gito, 25, is an unemployed resident of Cililitan, East Jakarta. He has been unemployed since graduating from university last year:

Personally, I don't have any hard feelings about President Megawati's recent call to live a modest life.

I mean, her words were not addressed to the right people because every poor person has suffered from the increase in utility and fuel prices. Her words mean nothing to us.

Ironically, she lives a lavish lifestyle, spending hundreds of million of rupiah just to throw her husband a birthday party. Not to mention her brother's glamorous life.

Why should she tell us to live modestly if she cannot set an example for her people? She should direct her call to the rich and the high-ranking officials to tighten their belts.

I think it would be better for her to step down. She is an incompetent leader. Perhaps her successor could improve the situation. Who knows?

-- Leo Wahyudi S