INDONESIA PRESENT & FUTURE IT HAS BEEN A MONTH OF HATRED IN 
INDONESIA . MORE THAN 500 SHOPS IN BANDUNG WERE WRECKED IN 
A SINGLE DAYKABUMI, YOUTHFUL RIOTERS HURLED SIX AUTOMOBILES OVER A PRECIPICE 
. FISTFIGHTS WERE COMMON IN DOZENS OF OTHER TOWNS AND VILLAGES 
. THE UGLY VIOLENCE HAS ONE COMMON DENOMINATOR : ALL THE 
VICTIMS WERE CHINESE, THAT MINORITY OF 3,000,000 AMONG INDONESIA'S 97 MILLION 
WHICH BY HARD WORK AND NIMBLE BRAIN HAS EXTRACTED WEALTH FROM 
THE OVERHEATED, FORESTED ARCHIPELAGO OF PRESIDENT SUKARNO . THE RACIAL BITTERNESS 
BEATS EVEN BIRMINGHAM, FOR DESPITE REPEATED GOVERNMENT EFFORTS TO CRACK THEIR 
ECONOMIC POWER, THE CHINESE SOMETIMES OPERATING THROUGH MIDDLEMEN TO CIRCUMVENT OFFICIAL 
SANCTIONS STILL CONTROL TRADE, AGRICULTURE, SMALL INDUSTRY, THE BLACK MARKET AND 
OTHER FORMS OF COMMERCE . " GO INTO EVEN THE SMALLEST 
VILLAGE IN INDONESIA, " AN INDONESIAN ARMY OFFICER ONCE COMPLAINED, " 
AND YOU WILL FIND ONE MAN WHOSE HOUSE HAS ELECTRIC LIGHTS 
AND A REFRIGERATOR . THAT MAN WILL BE CHINESE . " 
WE ARE HUNGRY . " THERE IS NOTHING NEW IN INDONESIA'S 
PREJUDICE, SINCE THE OVERSEAS CHINESE HAVE BEEN RUNNING THINGS THERE FOR 
YEARS . BUT FEELING AGAINST THE CHINESE HAS RISEN HIGHER AS 
INDONESIA HAS SLID TOWARD THE BRINK OF ECONOMIC RUIN . INFLATION 
IS OUT OF CONTROL ; BANKNOTES IN CIRCULATION HAVE DOUBLED IN 
THE PAST YEAR, AND THE U.S . DOLLAR, OFFICIALLY PEGGED AT 
45 RUPIAHS, NOW GETS 1,500 RUPIAHS ON THE BLACK MARKET . 
A GOOD SARONG COSTS A WORKER THREE MONTHS' PAY, AND ONE 
INDONESIAN AIRLINE PILOT HAS COMPLAINED THAT HE CAN MAKE ENDS MEET 
ONLY BY SMUGGLING IN CAMERAS FROM HONG KONG . GOVERNMENTSUBSIDIZED SCHOOLBOOKS 
ARE TOO EXPENSIVE FOR SOME STUDENTS . THERE ARE PERIODIC RICE 
SHORTAGES, AND PRODUCTION OF RUBBER, COPRA, AND TIN ON EXPROPRIATED DUTCH 
ESTATES HAS DECLINED SHARPLY UNDER THE MANAGEMENT OF FUMBLING GOVERNMENT BUREAUCRATS 
. STUDENTS HAVE STAGED DEMONSTRATIONS WITH BANNERS SCREAMING : " WE 
ARE HUNGRY . " RESENTMENT AGAINST THE RICH, WELL-FED CHINESE MINORITY 
FINALLY EXPLODED AFTER A FISTFIGHT BETWEEN AN INDONESIAN STUDENT AND A 
CHINESE STUDENT AT BANDUNG'S INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY . WHEN A YOUTHFUL 
RIOTER WAS SHOT BY POLICE IN ONE TOWN, MOBS WITH BAMBOO 
CLUBS HERDED CHINESE FROM THEIR HOUSES AND MADE THEM BOW THEIR 
HEADS AS HIS FUNERAL PROCESSION PASSED BY . FIRING OVER THE 
HEADS OF A SCREAMING THRONG IN BANDUNG, POLICE BROUGHT DOWN A 
POWER LINE WHICH ELECTROCUTED TWO INDONESIANS . PRONE TO ENJOY . 
PREDICTABLY, INDONESIA'S PRESIDENT SUKARNO BLAMED NEITHER HIMSELF NOR HIS CHAOTIC ECONOMIC 
POLICIES FOR THE RIOTS, SAID THAT THEY WERE CAUSED BY " 
COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARIES TRYING TO CAPITALIZE ON THE FOOD AND CLOTHING SITUATION AND 
ON THE CHINESE MINORITY PROBLEM . " HE WENT RIGHT AHEAD 
WITH PLANS TO SQUEEZE OUT WESTERN OIL COMPANIES, THOUGH IN THE 
PROCESS HE RISKED LOSING THE SOURCE OF ONETHIRD OF HIS NATION'S 
TOTAL EXPORT EARNINGS . NOT ONE TO BE DISTURBED LONG BY 
MERE ECONOMIC QUESTIONS, SUKARNO WAS MORE INTERESTED IN TENURE . SO 
AS TO BE ABLE TO COPE WITH ANY FUTURE DISORDERS, HE 
HAD HIS RUBBER STAMP CONGRESS " APPOINT " HIM TO THE 
PRESIDENCY FOR LIFE . " THIS DECISION MIGHT NOT ENTIRELY LIVE 
UP TO CERTAIN CONSTITUTIONAL REQUIREMENTS, " HARRUMPHED AN INDONESIAN CABINET MINISTER, 
" BUT IT SHOULD BE REMEMBERED THAT IT IS A POLITICAL 
REVOLUTIONARY PRODUCT AND NOT A LEGALISTIC PRODUCT . " WITH HIS 
CONTINUED CAREER THUS ASSURED, SUKARNO FLEW OFF FOR WHAT WAS DESCRIBED 
AS A LONG REST IN JAPAN, BELGRADE, VIENNA, ROME, AND FRANCE, 
WHICH HE IS ALWAYS PRONE TO ENJOY . AT SUKARNO'S STOP 
IN TOKYO LAST WEEK, THE BUSS WAS WAITING AT THE AIRPORT 
IN THE FORM OF THREE DELECTABLE THINGS OVERDRESSED FOR THE OCCASION 
. 