Where is this country headed?
Where is this country headed?
From Merdeka
Recent media reports informed us that the rupiah has depreciated by more than 100 percent against the U.S. dollar. Many people say our beloved country is in a crisis. We have not forgotten that at the beginning of the crisis many people said there was no cause for alarm, because it was all due to currency upheavals in neighboring countries.
We even stated conceitedly that our fundamental economy was solid and some observers predicted that the rupiah would balance at Rp 2,800 against the U.S. dollar. However, the rupiah continued to slide close to Rp 6,000. Some observers then said spiritedly that it was not only a monetary crisis but also a crisis of confidence.
The next phase saw the emergence of a number of theories on the declining rupiah, from economic sabotage to the lack of patriotism in the community. Even worse was the rumor about the death of a tycoon and a government leader which could trigger a further fall in the rupiah. A prominent columnist in the magazine Forum Keadilan (Jan. 12, 1998) said it was an indication of fading patriotism.
I am not going to offer a solution to the problem because I am not an economist. I am an ordinary citizen of this country who would like to ask the government, the economists, the intellectuals, the speculators at home and fellow citizens, "Where is this country headed?"
Should we continue to exist as the Indonesian nation with the red and white flag, to speak the Indonesian language, to use the rupiah as our currency? Or are we all going to exchange our rupiah with dollars, possibly replace the red and white with the Stars and Stripes, Indonesia Raya with the Star Spangled Banner, and use English every day?
I would like to remind fellow citizens, without pretending that I know everything, of the guidance shown by one of our freedom fighters K.H. Hasyim Asyhari on Nov. 10, 1945. His example was that to fight for the country is obligatory. It is now again time for us to fight for our country, by selling our dollars and buying rupiah to show our love for Indonesia.
BUDI RACHMAT
Bogor, West Java