Apparently, the door had closed by itself, and they forgot to check if it was properly locked. Since it was not, the wind must have blown it ajar, leaving my house easy prey to burglars.

Too often in so many areas of life, carelessness results in accidents, danger, failure, cruelty, grief and even tragedy. For example, the smoker who carelessly throws a lit cigarette butt and burns down a forest or a whole neighborhood.

In relationships, how often can a careless remark lead to misunderstanding or unnecessary hurt, and how often can broken promises (especially repeated ones) lead to disappointment, dismay and even feelings of  being  betrayed.

I know the case of a husband — a nice enough man — who took his wife’s loyal devotion for granted. From a practical and convenient point of view the marriage worked well; however, he increasingly neglected to nurture the relationship. She no longer felt cherished or treasured, and at times, felt that her tolerance and understanding was being used and even abused (and then there were also his bouts of irrational anger, which scared her).

Over the years, the growing gap, unhappiness and void in her heart opened the door (like the front door of my house) for someone else to steal her heart. Too late,  husby  realized his loss.

Actually, we all know that carelessness can have pretty heavy consequences, but why is it that even the most intelligent people are guilty of this “crime”, even governments?

But perhaps husbands and governments do have a lot in common. Perhaps it is something to do with the fact they are male?

At times, thoughtlessness, smugness, self-righteous complacency (for governments, it is due to being in power; for husbands, it is the “I got my gal” feeling), thinking that they have done so much already, when in fact they only achieve short-term gains.

Maybe governments are just “macro-husbands”, and we, the people, should treat them like a wise wife would: firmly set them straight, make them prioritize properly, be accountable for their actions, and vote them out if they do not pay attention to the things that really matter to the overall well-being of the nation-family – lahir-batin (physical and spiritual), as we say in Indonesia.

Husbands can be pretty intractable sometimes, but nothing compared to governments. After the “honeymoon”, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s true colors showed (as what happens with husbands too).

The Yudhoyono government certainly has had its share of careless moves, often not communicating (i.e. phasing-in) its policies adequately. Recently, it announced that in an effort to reduce the consumption of subsidized fuel, as of Oct. 1, vehicles younger than 2005 would be prohibited from using subsidized Premium gasoline; they would have to use unsubsidized Pertamax instead.

However,  the policy remains in theory only because the necessary physical adjustments in the field have not been made. Only one out of five or six gas pumps is for Pertamax — so who’s responsible for the conversion? The gas stations certainly do not feel it’s their responsibility.

This was also the case of the now notorious (exploding) gas canisters. In mid-2006, the government initiated a kerosene-to-gas conversion, which created problems because the program was implemented drastically. The price of gas was more expensive, while kerosene was nowhere to be found. People suffered. The fact that quality control of the gas canisters was also not exercised meant people were maimed or died when the canisters exploded.

After one year in power this second time round, recently, Yudhoyono’s government claimed it had implemented more than 90 percent of the program priorities it had planned for its first year.

The protesters who came out recently in droves outside the Presidential Palace to “commemorate” one year of Yudhoyono in office had another view. What was their beef? Oh, just minor things such as high commodity prices, job insecurity, poverty,  poor basic services (health and education), weak law enforcement, not cracking down enough on corruption, and unresolved human rights violations.

The theme of the protest that the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence ran was “Anti-Amnesia” to address this issue. The government lost its memory — how careless! I suppose it’s also this amnesia that also enables the government to appoint Timur Pradopo, who embraces hard-line Muslim groups and whose commitment to human rights is questioned, as head of the police? As for considering giving hero status to Soeharto, why don’t they just resurrect him from the grave? Seems like he never died anyway.

Considering the number of “careless” things that the government have done or not done, it is creating a chasm which it has the power to bridge but chooses not to. The devoted wife in the story felt she deserved better, so she moved on; the people will too, and leave their leaders behind.

 
The writer (www.juliasuryakusuma.com ) is the author of Julia’s Jihad.

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