Weird hobby of the rich
Weird hobby of the rich
From Koran Tempo
Who says that the country's economy is now at its lowest point
and who says that reform has totally failed? Perhaps, only
university students are sad to see their parents racking their
brains and making enormous efforts to pay the tuition fees of
their children. Their plight has worsened because they have been
laid off while fuel prices have been raised again.
If you are sitting around, chewing fried cassava on a
roadside, looking along major thoroughfares, your eyes will catch
passing luxury cars, often carrying just one person sitting
haughtily and reading a newspaper and Newsweek magazine.
Who says the country's people are poor? Perhaps, those saying
it are only men of the same level as brother Miing, who works as
a parking man in front of a low-class bar. The rich in this
country have become more affluent than before the reform era.
If a comparison is made with the years of economic crisis
beginning in the middle of 1997, just take a look at the many
lawyers who collect luxury cars and live like kings. Furthermore,
each time there is an exhibition, particularly a house
exhibition, people flock to visit it. They are no longer full of
small and modest houses, but luxury ones that cost hundreds of
millions of rupiah and whose facilities exceed those of a palace.
More strangely, a new hobby has recently been popular among
the rich. It has to do with a fish. The prima donna now is no
longer arwana or discus but lou han.
The fish with a wide forehead is considered the reincarnation
of the magic monkey known as Sun Wu Kung. Reportedly, this fish
can bring much luck. So, don't be surprised when they fetch Rp 1
billion each. The exporters of the fish reportedly live in
Singapore and Malaysia.
These fish exporters suddenly become rich because of the money
they have got from a country, which, according to its government,
is now suffering the plight of a protracted economic crisis.
Strange but true, the facts show that keeping lou han is the new-
found hobby of these yuppies.
These rich people could have acted more wisely, for example,
by channeling donations and showing concern for their fellow
beings so the gap between the rich and poor can be made even
smaller.
TAUFIK KARMADI
Jakarta