The depression of the 1930s

Present circumstances remind me of the great depression of the 1930s. My father, who had grandiose ideas, attempted to live beyond his means.

I was a child of six attending the Dutch elementary school. I lived in a boarding house with my brother in the city of Madiun in East Java. My parents lived in a remote village, about 60 kilometers distant, with no electricity or mains water supply, connected to civilization by a hard clay road with a gravel base -- no tarmacadam in those days.

My father ran a thriving business, exporting gaplek (dried cassava) as a winter feed for cattle in cold countries, or so I thought.

My father bought a sedan and a truck for his business on hire purchase. In those days, to own an American vehicle was very prestigious indeed. The vehicles were to be paid off in installments.

Everything went smoothly for one year, two more years of payments remained. Then the great depression commenced, amid beginnings which in many aspects were similar to the present monetary crisis.

Then, one day, when my brother and I were going home from school, accompanied by a chaperone, we happened to pass the garage where my father bought the two vehicles. My father, who was standing forlornly in front of the shop, beckoned us over and explained, in a tearful voice, that he could no longer afford the monthly installments and had forfeited both the sedan and the truck.

I had never seen my father in such an emotional state as on that unforgettable day. I believe that similar cases could be caused by recent economic events. As a matter of fact, television on Jan. 6 showed people pawning motorbikes, sedans and trucks in government pawn shops.

A. DJUANA

Jakarta