Wearing heavy outfits?

It is difficult to understand why the members of the People's Consultative Assembly and the House of Representatives (MPR and DPR) prefer to don a complete suit (a jacket, a long-sleeved shirt and a tie) to go to work, considering that Indonesia is a tropical country. I wonder whether they do not feel too hot.

We can imagine that they must sweat profusely and be limited in their movements when they go out in the field to be close to the people they claim to represent. Obviously, in these heavy outfits they will feel both reluctant and out of place at a stuffy and hot traditional market, for example.

Clearly they will think it is only proper for them to work in an air-conditioned room, travel in an air-conditioned car, stay in a star-rated hotel or shop in a luxurious shopping center the class of Sogo.

Wouldn't it be better for them to choose an outfit that suits not only the climate but also the people they represent. They can wear, for example, a short-sleeved batik shirt and give the impression that they really represent the people and not entrepreneurs or business tycoons, who must put on a complete suit in the interest of their business.

In Malaysia and the Philippines, for example, House members prefer to wear their traditional dress. Even in Singapore, which is much richer than our country, House members are simply dressed. Only on certain occasions will they wear a complete suit.

It may well be that our House members opt for a complete suit out of a helpless inferiority complex, so if they do not don a complete suit they will lose their self-confidence and fear be disrespected. Another possibility is that they do not consider themselves the representatives of the little people, but rather the representatives of the "big" people.

One sign of this is that some of these House members have at least one very luxurious automobile -- or perhaps more -- whose worth exceeds their official salary. Even if they spent their entire salary for five full years, they still could not afford to purchase this very luxurious car.

RACHMAT BASOEKI SOEROPRANOTO

Jakarta