---------------------------------------------------------- FREE for JOIN Indonesia Daily News Online via EMAIL: go to: http://www.indo-news.com/subscribe.html - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - Dengan mengClick banner sponsor anda menyumbang Rp. 1000,- untuk HomePage IndoNews. ---------------------------------------------------------- KOLOM SUPANGKAT: THE GENEROUSITY OF ADI SASONO: WHO GOT HOW MUCH? THE COMPLICATED DOCTRINE OF "THE INDONESIAZATION" It is not the first time that an Indonesian Minister had the noble mind to distri- bute wealth to the people to create a new middle class. Minister Iskaq Tjokrohadisurjo (if my memory is good) launched the idea of the so- called "Indonesiazation" of the Indonesian economy. It was not directed against the Chinese minority - in the cabinet there was Dr Ong Eng Die who was respons- ible for the new concept - it was directed to the elevation of the indigenous popula- tion to "the Chinese level" of entrepreneurs by giving them the business licenses with which they can invite the Chinese to into business together as equal partner. The idea is excellent in theory but no good in practice. The Indonesian- Chinese partnership dubbed as "Ali Babah" business didn't last very long simply because the Indonesian partners couldn't stand the Chinese way of life and of doing busi- ness. Most Indonesians are either childrens of the bureacrats/noblemen or plain folks who had neither talents nor knacks for doing business, let alone education a la Harvard MBA. Moreover they feel equal and resented being told what to do and what not to do. So the partnership was naturally short-lived simply because they were so different, the disliked one anoher's way of life and doing businesss. Because their Chinese partners are fullblood business people who used to live and die for the money in business. Chinese people in general are born business people since about 6000 years ago. But 40 years later the indigenous population called pribumi have learned their les- sons from the Chinese and became better businessmen. During the new order they had been given the chance to become conglomerates, bankers by way of business-like or by way of KKN and generally almost all of them failed except for a bunch of them like a.o.Probosutejo. Now Adi Sasono and the pribumi are in better position than during Mr Iskaq's era of 49 years ago. But he was accused of trying to dump the Chinese and re- placed them with the pribumi instead of repeating the Ali-Babah concept. What is most questionable is that Adi's generousity is based on his own mercy, he lacks a merrit system that would be fair and square to the whole pribumi population. "Who got how much and why" is the question he wouldn' be able to answer in a straight way". And he is spending IMF money, we, our children, grand- children, perhaps even our great-grand-children will have to pay back. The whole Habibie cabinet won't be able to answer it, like in Suharto's era, we just have to aquiesce! H.S. Hidayat Supangkat New Yorki ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Didistribusikan tgl. 17 Feb 1999 jam 13:51:15 GMT+1 oleh: Indonesia Daily News Online <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.Indo-News.com/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
