The ugly twins
An encounter with twins is surely always a pleasant experience. If, however, you are part of Siamese twins, it would be rather hard for you to aspire to the post of ambassador or journalist even if both of you mastered French, Spanish and Arabic in addition to Russian and English.
On the last day of August, luck was not on my side because I saw at least five twins in my mind and they were all ugly twins (forgive me for using that term). One big national twin the republic has had, is now missing, and the chairman of Supreme Advisory Council (DPA), Baramuli (usually very vocal), makes no fuss about it.
Since his "ascent to the throne" a little over 100 days ago, President B.J. Habibie feels no need to have a vice president to assist him as stipulated by the 1945 Constitution. It seems that the state secretary functions as the unofficial vice president. Perhaps we are not living under so many crises that we can afford to discard the Dwi-Tunggal (Sukarno-Hatta) asset as during the revolution. But his choice of his other half has, in my opinion, created an "ugly twin" leadership particularly because the state secretary has many strings attached to Golkar when he is supposed to be neutral. But nobody complains.
The second ugly twin for the whole world to see is the existence of two parties with a similar name and similar aspirations but with contrasting blessings from the official power holders. Our legal virtues have, indeed, changed. The male star leading one half of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) was so loved by the president that he was warmly hugged and kissed when asking for the former's presence to open a congress.
The female leader of the other half, who has the majority of followers according to polls, was ordered to report to the authorities first before obtaining recognition and approval to commemorate a particular event. A very ugly sight indeed, in the basic understanding of democracy and the ideals of the reform movement. Or perhaps it is more truthful to say that such leaders simply lack honesty and political morality. Quo vadis Pancasila?
The third ugly twin I have in mind is the practice of corruption and collusion (I take nepotism with tears in my eyes, regretfully as granted after wives get medals from their husbands nowadays) which continues unabated after the reform storm. I think the authorities should better admit that, indeed, 20 percent of World Bank aid has gone down the drain. Twenty percent is a low figure for developing countries, because a conservative estimate was 30 percent when I attended a conference overseas 30 years ago.
The fourth ugly twin relates to simultaneous flooding in Bangladesh and in China.
The fifth concerns the ugly twin happening when U.S. missiles fell in Afghanistan and Sudan, rightly or wrongly.
Maybe I should include a last ugly twin on the ugly list so that housewives will not call me unfair, namely the disappearance in markets (how incredible and how true) of rice and cooking oil.
GANDHI SUKARDI
Jakarta