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