The News

      NEWS

            Every night on the TV you can hear the news, but everyday, on the streets and at work, you can hears rumours. Most people love rumours. Some business people spread rumours to make problems for their business competitors. Several years ago there was a romour that the pork fat, which is prohibited in Islam, was being used to make a certain type of biscuit. This rumour caused great problems for the biscuit manufacturer. Recently there was a rumour that famous Indonesian businessman was dead. He was associated with the bank. When people heard the rumour of his death, they took all of their money from the bank. This rumour nearly finished the bank.

            According to a research, 25 % of rumours in the food business are true, and the figure 80% in the finance business is true. About 95 % of political rumours are usually true. Prof. Dadang Hawari says that many rumours are related to the supernatural because some uneducated people believe that there are supernatural ways of becoming rich. A few years ago there was a rumour that a respected haji had a tuyul to make him rich. Of course the rumour was untrue. But some people believed it. Even today we can hear people talk about kandang bubrah.

            People who start rumour are trying to make themselves happier. They are saying, “I’m poor, but I don’t use bad ways to become rich”. They believe that you must be bad if you are rich. The traditional rumour said that a person was rich because he had supernatural help. The modern rumour is that people are rich because of corruption and collusion. It seems that nobody likes rich people.