Some facts of life<\/p>\n
Mr. Bill Starr calls me \"offensive\" and \"presumptuous\" (\"Your
\nLetters,\" On concept of guilt, Oct. 25) in daring to suggest that
\nthe concepts of selfishness and guilt are not high on the
\nphilosophical agenda in Indonesia. Apparently I have a lot to
\nlearn, particularly from his example of \"family values,\" of which
\nhe proposes, Western societies might learn something from
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
To what \"family values\" is he referring? I only know what I
\nsee without the aid of rose-tinted spectacles. I see the
\nIndonesian economy staggering from crisis to crisis under the
\nweight of nepotistic inefficiency caused by influential fathers
\nhaving placed totally unsuitable and ineffectual offspring in
\nmanagerial positions and power. I see the spoilt children of high
\nranking officials literally getting away with murder. I see child
\nlabor accepted as a fact of life for hundreds of thousands of
\nIndonesian children.<\/p>\n
I see mentally unstable family members cast out of their homes
\nand left to wander the streets in rags and penury. I see
\norphanages and social programs milked of their already meager
\nfunds by corrupt yayasan (foundation) officials. I see children
\ndying unnecessarily due to neglect by parents of even the most
\nbasic hygiene, or -- even worse, and unforgivably -- their
\nindifference to immunization. I see children given away, and not
\nalways because of poverty, but because they may be inconvenient.
\nI see righteous, upstanding husbands habitually cheating on their
\nhapless wives with mistresses of prostitutes -- not a few of whom
\nare still children placed in brothels by their parents. I see, in
\nthis male dominated society, women cowed and worn down by high-
\nhanded, lazy, dictatorial fathers, husbands and older brothers. I
\nsee wife-beating as one of the greatest unspoken cover-ups of
\nIndonesian society. I see incest, rape and the physical abuse of
\nchildren furtively committed on an extensive scale, especially in
\nthe more remote villages and sometimes with the local society's
\nconnivance. Practically every day I read in this very newspaper
\nof murders more often than not committed by family members or
\nclose family friends. All these examples are not the
\ncomparatively rare occurrences which taint every society in the
\nworld. They are commonplace in Indonesia; so commonplace that
\nonly the worst excesses get reported. Are these the \"family
\nvalues\" which Mr. Starr would wish the West to emulate?<\/p>\n
Mr. Starr charmingly confesses in his letter to being bald.
\nPerhaps he could attend to his rather more serious myopia. I am
\nsurprised, whilst he set about his attack on me, he did not pull
\nout from his drawer of cliches that fatuous old dictum: \"When in
\nRome, do as the Romans do.\" I would counter that with \"Nero
\nfiddles while Rome burns.\" All over Indonesia, in the last few
\nmonths, that is not too far from reality.<\/p>\n
ROBERT WALKER<\/p>\n
Amlapura, Bali<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/some-facts-of-life-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }