Who gives a damn

None of us relish the idea of being a defeatist, the kind of person who just sits back and says "well, there's nothing I can do about it, so why bother".

The trouble is, this type of man and his thinking is often right -- and I will tell you why. Akbar Tandjung, despite his much-tainted reputation, still received 42 percent of Golkar Party votes at its convention and so credibility, which is what a presidential candidate should possess, did not come into the equation hardly at all.

On the other hand, Gen. (ret.) Wiranto, with the stigma of alleged human rights violations hanging around his neck, secured more than enough votes to swing it his way. So what does this tell us? It means such things do not really matter in Indonesian politics -- and that's frightening.

What about Iraq and the blatant disregard of international law by Bush and Blair when they went after Saddam and his regime. Did it matter? Did it hell. Preemptive strikes are now the order of the day, the first one coming from Osama bin Laden on the twin towers -- now it's anyone's guess what's coming next.

The same applies to Palestine and Israel, both of them grossly guilty of human rights violations by the score. One day the fanatics will get Musharaf in Pakistan and who knows who else is on someone's hit list.

Corruption has lost its meaning here, with the vast majority of people simply not caring who is doing what, as long as they themselves are unaffected. The rules -- and I wonder sometimes (in fact often) why on earth did we make them in the first place, as no one in power takes a blind bit of notice of them -- are only obeyed if it suits.

There have been some interesting articles of late about how to eradicate corruption. Although they were well thought-out and possibly workable, the chances of getting the opportunity to even try them can be found only in that place known as cloud cuckoo land.

Establishing democracy in Iraq is about as plausible as parking a Jumbo in a wardrobe and stopping corruption in Indonesia is about as likely as rivers flowing uphill.

Sad -- well of course it is -- but then maybe the criminals are all taking the gamble this is the only life they'll get. As no one has ever come back from the dead, maybe they're right about that as well.

Bring back colonialism, it's the only answer.

DAVID WALLIS Medan, North Sumatra