Tycoons must donate
Tycoons must donate
From Pikiran Rakyat
Media reports on the country's monetary crisis are indeed
alarming. Especially now that the crisis has caused the prices of
the nine staple daily necessities to soar, with the result that
people are queuing to buy staples supplied by the logistics
depots at normal prices.
This phenomenon reminds one of the situation in the 1960s,
when the then president, Sukarno, announced the resolve to be
self-supporting. Such queues were understandable in those days
because goods were in short supply but are strange today because
our country is prosperous and goods are in abundant supply.
Where does the mistake lie? It is time for all of us to
introspect. To overcome this crisis, our government has been
compelled to borrow from overseas. Our debts are already huge.
Now that there are fresh loans, what will the fate of our next
generation?
The media has also carried reports on business tycoons and
government officials flocking to banks to exchange their dollars
to rupiah. Of course, the government hopes to get more dollars to
increase the country's foreign exchange reserve or to bring about
economic stability. Hence the motto: I love the rupiah. These
activities are just the same as dollar transactions.
For example, if you buy dollars at a rate of Rp 2,150 to Rp
3,000 and then you exchange or sell your dollars at a rate of Rp
4,000 to Rp 8,000 to the dollar, just calculate the profit you
may reap.
In fact, it is expected of business tycoons that they should
help their country by donating some of their profits to the
government.
I know from media reports stating that only a handful of
people have donated gold and a small quantity of dollars. Such
donations obviously cannot help the government quickly overcome
this crisis.
If our business tycoons are willing to donate two kilograms of
gold each, then our government need not be troubled with seeking
new external loans. Just remember how big the profit these
business tycoons have enjoyed from the businesses they run in
Indonesia.
I wish I could donate two kilograms of gold to the government.
Alas, I am just a commoner and must work really hard just to make
ends meet.
O ABDURACHMAN MA'RUF
Bandung, West Java