Pen's might<\/p>\n
The People's Republic of China has pledged to Indonesia
\nmedicine and food aid worth US$3 million, along with $200 million
\nin export credit facilities, to help us in our present economic
\ndifficulties. So what's wrong with this new development, which
\nis, in essence, an act of friendship and solidarity between two
\nAsian nations?<\/p>\n
On Feb. 11, 1998, the International Herald Tribune, that most
\nerudite of world daily newspapers, felt it necessary to play up
\nsome Western analyst's view that China \"might feel compelled to
\ndeploy her navy to Indonesian territorial waters in order to
\ncollect refugees and pressure Indonesia's leadership into
\nrestraining anti-Chinese violence.\" The source of that statement?
\nSome highbrow in Chicago, half a world away from the Asian
\nregion.<\/p>\n
The same publication also suggested strongly in other issues
\nthat the government was somehow behind the anti-Chinese riots of
\npast months, supposedly in order to deflect criticism from
\nitself. I thought at the time: Then why not start with the main
\npopulation centers such as Jakarta, Surabaya, Bandung and Medan?
\nWhy the minor, isolated towns?<\/p>\n
The world's daily newspaper didn't give up, though. On Feb.
\n14, one over-enthusiastic editor gave a front page story the
\nsubheading: Fresh unrest comes closer to the capital. Oh, wow. I
\ncould imagine the next day, a gray-suited man in Paris
\nfrantically e-mailing his reporter here: \"Isn't Jakarta burning
\nyet? We can't hold the presses forever.\"<\/p>\n
The mainland Chinese government knows full well that it does
\nnot hold sway over Indonesian-Chinese minds. People of Chinese
\ndescent here would know better where Jakarta's Jl. Pecenongan or
\nSemarang's Jl. Pemuda were than say, where Fuxingmenwai Avenue (a
\nmajor Beijing thoroughfare) is located. The crews of Chinese
\nnaval vessels would have a hard time trying to communicate with
\nmost Indonesian-Chinese.<\/p>\n
Now, the worse seems to be over for our country. A sign of
\nthis is that Indonesia has been off the front pages in many
\noverseas newspapers for the past few weeks.<\/p>\n
It only goes to show that even when reading internationally
\nacclaimed newspapers, we should not let our minds shift to
\n\"idle\", but learn to think for ourselves.<\/p>\n
I will end this letter by quoting what George Bernard Shaw
\nonce wrote, which is very true: \"Some journalists don't know the
\ndifference between a bicycle accident and the end of the world.\"<\/p>\n
FARID BASKORO<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/pens-might-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }