The issue of charity

If the estimate given by World Bank president James Wolfensohn is correct -- and one must assume it is considering the authority of the global institution he leads -- about 20 million Indonesians are at present threatened with destitution due to the economic crisis. According to Wolfensohn, it is Indonesia's poor who are feeling the brunt of the crisis and not the wealthy bankers and industrialists, as unemployment is rising "at really very scary rates".

After tumbling through the country's inadequate social safety net, thousands of Indonesians who moved to the cities in the boom years of the not-so-distant past are returning to their rural villages, the World Bank president was reported as saying in a speech to the Overseas Development Council's global issues conference in Washington recently.

Here in Jakarta, of course, one does not actually need the research findings of such a prestigious body as the World Bank to get a grasp of the gravity of the situation. One only has to talk to people in the streets, in private company offices or even in their homes, to know that the specter of unemployment and deprivation, brought about by the recession, weighs heavily on practically on every Indonesian's mind. To further add to the general sense of desperate affliction, the light at the end of the tunnel is currently nowhere in sight.

This is why reports of the International Monetary Fund's agreement to allow the continuation of government subsidies on imports of essential commodities, particularly food and medicines, is welcome news indeed. Humanitarian motives aside, there is the no-less-serious reality to be considered that prolonged suffering among the Indonesian population could trigger widespread social instability that, in turn, could seriously destabilize the government and its efforts to come to grips with the crisis.

Demonstrations to demand lower food prices are already the order of the day in many places. Riots and looting have broken out in dozens of towns and cities across the country. Protests over the government's handling of the situation are rife in a growing number of universities and colleges. Without help, one dreads to think of the consequences that the predicted food shortages this year due to the El Nino freak weather phenomenon might bring.

A word of appreciation must be addressed at this point to those who have, of their own volition, made valuable donations to relieve the suffering of the poorest among us. Reports over the weekend said billions of rupiah in cash donations have been collected so far from top-ranking government officials and private entrepreneurs, not to mention the donations in kind that have been made by groups and individuals to help their fellow citizens in need.

But while such donations are appreciated, it hardly needs mentioning that charity does not actually address the core of the problem at hand, which is the economic slump which the nation is at present in. Charity may also lead to dependency. Worse, it could be a mere public relations ploy for image promotion. While it has a legitimate place in our efforts to relieve the suffering of those most affected by the current crisis, charity basically serves only the short-term exigencies of those who need it. In the final analysis only an overall solution to our present problems will be effective in allaying the threat of further social disturbances.