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Jakarta Post

Letters: It is just a blame game

This is a comment on an article titled "Indonesian too open to foreign culture: Mega - Pro

The Jakarta Post
Tue, June 2, 2009

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Letters: It is just a blame game

This is a comment on an article titled "Indonesian too open to foreign culture: Mega - Pro."

As a Westerner, coming from a culture with a rich history of thousand of years, I feel insulted by Megawati and Prabowo's statements. I agree that many of Indonesia's wealthy elite have abandoned their own national culture and embraced a lifestyle of conspicuous consumerism. However, this is not a Western phenomenon; it is a human failing that crosses all continents.

By blaming all this on "the West", they are guilty of blatant racism. They would do well to take an honest look at the state of the nation's beating heart in 2009.

What we see is a rampant pursuit of material wealth at the expense of culture and community values; a "me me me" money culture, where wealth is worshiped, and money buys everything, including respect and fear. The poor are portrayed as sad objects of pity, worthy only of charity and a feeling of "ahhhhh, poor things" from the rich.

To lay the blame for this state of affairs on the West is frankly incorrect, and distracts the people by creating a scapegoat instead of focusing them on the struggle to rectify the problem itself.

Reading between the lines of the blame game, I believe/hope the ultimate mission of Megawati and Prabowo is to create a pride and a feeling of community; to raise the identity of "us" as a nation higher than that of "me" as an individual; to create a country where the ordinary people are upstanding, proud and valued citizens, the backbone of the nation. I sincerely wish them success.

Andrew

Tangerang, Banten

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