The Supers

What I have in mind are the super-rich and the super-poor. To the latter category belong most Indonesian farmers, or to be more exact, the rice growers. Their plight has been heartrending ever since preindependent times. Leaders of new and old political parties hardly touch on the matter in their campaigns before the technological wonder, the television camera. They are too busy choosing the symbols of their parties.

The Reform Cabinet has increased the price of some fertilizers needed by rice growers because these contain imported ingredients, and you know how our rupiah is faring. To compensate price hikes, government agencies have raised the price of husked rice per kilogram from Rp 1,000 to Rp 1,500, making village children jump in the air at hearing the good tiding.

When harvesttime comes, the government cooperatives refuse to purchase the husked rice at the official price, complaining the "unhusked" contain too much water. Understandably so because the harvesttime comes during the unwelcome rainy season. Here, private buyers or middlemen come in offering cash of Rp 600 to Rp 700 for every kilogram, which the rice growers have to accept with a bleeding heart.

And this to think that the ministries of agriculture and cooperatives, through foreign assistance, have dropped hundreds of millions of rupiah to thousands of villages throughout the country just to avoid such tragic things from happening.

An official told an interviewer from a private television network that it was unfortunate that the money comes too late into the hands of the rice growers, rural cooperatives and rural banking offices. Responsible planning, indeed, is not the greatest asset of our leaders.

Godowns of rural cooperatives are usually full of imported rice when growers come to sell their paddies. Maybe there was no need to draw up a marketing strategy when you sell rice. Under whatever system, it seems that only the speculators fare the most.

Rice growers, landless or land owners, fortunately again, need little and are modest and patient people. Hopefully, the new political leaders would and could change their unromantic saga. The other super group actually deserves no comment, since The Jakarta Post Sunday edition has reviewed a book on the untouchable rich Indonesians who have been able to maintain their lifestyle despite the economic crisis, the currency crisis, bank mergers, or national debt burden, workers laid off, etc.

I remember one day on a recent visit to New Zealand, a Beechcraft-type private airplane was parked at the Christchurch airfield bearing the identification mark PK, for Indonesia. A group of Indonesians had flown in the other day to spend their holidays skiing and bungee jumping. Gambling places are included in their favorite places, and they are plenty.

In Sydney, they might go to the Opera House for a concert but such people never miss Kings Cross, if you know what I mean.

There is no use fighting the rich. The task of every intellectual and political party, as well as the moral duty of every religious leader, is to eradicate poverty. I believe that most of the country's farmers -- and rice growers in particular -- have become super indifferent to promises by political leaders. They are grateful if they continue to exist on a day-to- day basis.

When will foresight be part of governing?

GANDHI SUKARDI

Jakarta