What is happening to this country?

What is happening to this country?

While a dozen foreign countries are providing aid to save our
people from starvation in Irian Jaya and Maluku, as much as US$80
billion in savings have been accumulated by Indonesians who have
deposited their money in foreign banks.

While we were told not so long ago that Indonesia would become
the world's fifth top economic power within the next 10 to 20
years, 40 percent of our children under five suffer from
malnutrition which could leave them crippled and intellectually
disabled -- if they survive.

While we proudly build planes, the teachers who educate our
future generation earn Rp 25 (approximately 0.5 U.S. cent) per
hour of overtime. And our country ranks 99 out of 175 in the
world's human development index.

While all experts -- be they Indonesian or foreign --
attribute our present crisis to a lack of transparency,
corruption and cronyism, our Assembly members refuse to include
in the State Guidelines the recommendations drafted by the
President's advisers for discriminative law enforcement and
justice, a clean government and a professional bureaucracy.

Even though our government courageously closed 16 banks, the
bank owners have been neither investigated nor punished. But
innocent depositors have lost their savings.

While we spend hundreds of millions of dollars constructing
huge apartment and office buildings, we cannot afford to provide
standard fireproof clothing to our firemen.

Can someone tell me what is happening to this country?

OLVIA REKSODIPOETRO

Jakarta