Solving monetary crisis

Solving monetary crisis

Since mid-July 1997 our beloved country has been undergoing a
monetary crisis. This crisis, which has come after a number of
disasters, natural or otherwise, such as forest fires, air, sea
and land transportation accidents, drought and starvation (in
some parts of Indonesia), has as its immediate impact the closing
and bankruptcy of companies with the result that thousands (or,
perhaps, millions) of our fellow countrymen have to be laid off.

I am simply an ordinary citizen wishing to call on all layers
of the community -- the haves, the executives, the middle class
and people of other social levels -- to think more rationally and
act with greater sympathy for our fellow countrymen now in the
throes of a great ordeal (if not a catastrophe).

We must not rush to purchase U.S. dollars. Have respect for
our own currency (again, hats off to a number of articles by Kwik
Kian Gie in Kompas and the Post).

It is also my hope that government officials or community
figures that command respect and have authority immediately come
forward. I hope that at least one of them will go to a money
changer to exchange their dollars for rupiah.

I believe that the community will take this as an example and
will not just follow others in buying dollars in great amounts
without being certain about what the profit will be.

Government officials and community leaders must not hesitate
or feel shy in this respect. If just one of them volunteers to do
so, the community will raise their thumbs. Aren't we used to
seeing government officials or community figures give examples
symbolically?

Malaysia has issued a sort of a policy package which includes
a cut in the salaries of its ministers. South Koreans happily
sell their gold jewelry to help the government cope with the
monetary crisis. In Thailand, Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai has
tabled for ratification an anticorruption bill, which is expected
to cut the chain of collusion between government officials and
businesspeople by means of introducing fixed bidding prices for
government projects.

What about Indonesia? The Indonesian people are called upon to
tighten their belts, the meaning of which is still unclear. Some
people have for years tightened their belts, some very tightly.
Only a certain group of people may not be affected by the present
economic woes.

Let us all unite to help our country get out of the present
economic difficulty and prevent its condition from worsening.

INDIRA CESTRA

Jakarta