The sheep need to take a stand

The sheep need to take a stand

It never ceases to amaze me that we, the people of Indonesia,
are so easily manipulated. I sometimes wonder if all of our minds
have been stunted by an education system that teaches us to have
neither individual thought nor one ounce of initiative. Perhaps
that is why we are led around like a flock of sheep by our
leaders and other nations.

What is the Bank Bali incident a smoke screen for? During the
uncovering of the Bank Bali scandal, three other serious offenses
have come to light.

1. Bank International Indonesia (BII). What made the Widjaja's
not fit and proper to keep their position at BII? Was it too much
intergroup lending? That is a criminal offense punishable by a
jail sentence.

2. Lippo Bank. Where do the Riadys get the money to invest so
much in Mega's campaign. If they have it then why didn't they
recapitalize their bank? Why was James removed from the
presidency of the bank for being unfit and improper, although his
father still remains chairman?

3. Cement Cibinong and the case of the missing US$250 million.
Does Hashim really expect us to believe the money is still
wherever it was supposed to be? With what he borrowed for the
purchase of Bank Niaga, he could have bought it three times over,
yet he never paid for it.

All three of these scandals taken separately amount to much
more than the Bank Bali scam. Isn't it strange that no one cares?
In each of these cases government funds were involved. What
criteria are we using to make a judgment on what will be deemed
corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN) and what is not?

There is one day of massive press coverage about these
incidents then silence. I wonder why. Was the press told to stop
reporting on these incidents? Does neither Bank Indonesia nor the
Ministry of Finance care about those abuses? Most important,
where are the World Bank and the IMF? Could it be that there is
a bit of KKN going on? Why doesn't everyone want an immediate
investigation? Should Bank Bali have to take total responsibility
for all the wrongdoing that has and still is occurring in
Indonesia? Why not investigate every one of these offenses and
report on them daily? Why not threaten to cut off aid to
Indonesia if everything isn't cleaned up, investigated and
treated fairly? Where is the transparency that everyone is
talking about when publicly listed companies such as Cement
Cibinong's founder and leader make a statement that he will not
reveal which bank the missing money is in? Does this mean that
the shareholders/creditors have no right to know?

I think it is about time that we people of Indonesia stand up
and ask our leaders to be accountable to us, directly. It is
everyone's right as a citizen of this country under a democracy
to have information given to them. The information should be
enough for us to be able to make decisions of our own. At this
time we are just being led around by the rings in our noses. When
will it stop?

EKO WAHYUDI

Jakarta