Tonetto's article biased<\/p>\n
Writing a letter to the editor of The Jakarta Post is
\ngenerally a pointless exercise. No one pays much attention to
\nnotes from those familiar few, relentless correspondents who clog
\nup your pages day after day with their boring diatribes. But on
\nrare occasions, certain objectionable opinions cannot pass
\nunchallenged. Once before, I have written to the Post, that time
\nresponding to the deranged, racist tirades of Masli Arman. Now I
\nam prompted to write for a second time, again to counter a
\nbizarre intervention, but this time from the formerly obscure
\nWalter Tonetto (The Jakarta Post, Dec. 15, 1999: Australia: The
\nchild with everything who does not know it).<\/p>\n
Tonetto was introduced to readers as the founder of the humbly
\nnamed Tonetto Foundation, unknown to the world until now, but
\nwhich has dedicated itself to the intriguing task of helping set
\nup other foundations. Sadly, Tonetto deprived readers of his
\nexpertise in this area, instead expending his energy on a
\npompous, offensive and unwarranted attack on Australia.<\/p>\n
Tonetto made admirable use of his thesaurus, but failed to
\nengage more than a couple of brain cells in composing his gaseous
\nrant, a point-by-point rebuttal of which would fill pages of
\nnewspaper. Supposedly a \"reflection\" on the recent referendum in
\nAustralia (a topic, might I say, that has been done to death in
\nyour newspaper), the article soon lost track, and deteriorated
\ninto a baffling laundry list of Tonetto's pet hates, prejudices
\nand misplaced resentments.<\/p>\n
Homosexuals, academics, atheists, \"rightists\" and hedonist all
\ncame in for a shellacking. But what for? The key flaw in
\nTonetto's article is that for all the ranting and raving, he
\ncould not say what is bad about Australia. Are its people happy?
\nAre they poor? Are they unhealthy? Is it a violent place? No, no,
\nno and no. The amoral wasteland he described bears no resemblance
\nwhatsoever to the friendly, clean, fair, vibrant and prosperous
\ncountry that Australia is. Put simply, Tonetto doesn't have the
\nfaintest idea what he is talking about, and anyone who has spent
\neven a few days in Australia will recognize that.<\/p>\n
A few examples of Tonetto's poor logic should show how little
\nstore can be placed in his article. In one howler, he wrote that
\nAustralia \"routinely ignores\" the International Covenant of Civil
\nand Political rights and, curiously, cites Australia's \"brusque\"
\ndiplomatic actions during the East Timor crisis as an example.
\nWhose civil or political rights were infringed by Australia's
\nactions? Australia intervened to put a stop to the appalling
\nhuman rights abuses in East Timor.<\/p>\n
Tonetto also claims that Australian teenagers have nothing to
\nlook forward to (though he couldn't say it that plainly, he had
\nto write \"the Australian vestiary is almost wholly void of any
\nbefitting garment\"). That is just more nonsense. Australia's
\neconomy is booming, and unemployment is below 6 percent. The
\nAustralian economy is the envy of Asia.<\/p>\n
Instead of embarrassing himself to a city full of readers,
\nTonetto should apply his dormant mind to the pointless task of
\nspawning foundations around the country. But, having used his
\nsurname for the first one, what will he call the second? The
\nthird?<\/p>\n
RODERICK BRAZIER<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/tonettos-article-biased-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }