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