A lawyer's lawyer

Mr. Luhut Pangaribuan is too modest by taking the byline "Lawyer" (The Jakarta Post, Feb. 2, 2002, Under rule by law offenders are rewarded).

As PC to the former president and current counsel to the largest law firm on the planet, HHP-Baker & Mckenzie, Mr. Luhut is actually a super lawyer.

While we appreciate Mr. Luhut's fair set out of the current "rule by law", what we truly need is his follow-up piece on possible remedies.

Our legal rules, like our civil-engineered floodgates, all have Dutch origins. The design elements, though archaic, are not at fault here, but rather our utilization of these structures. Opening the Manggarai floodgate by even 20 centimeters would relieve the situation in the slum areas. This relief is not likely as it would come at the expense of elite Menteng. The rich and powerful care, but not enough to share this particular misery. Then or now.

Transparency International transparency.org has a mission to wipe out corruption, collusion and nepotism on a global basis. Recently, they obtained endorsements from most nations for a referendum disallowing tax deductions for graft and corruption expenses. Notably absent from the signing parties were our mentors, the Netherlands.

Perhaps the Dutch model should not be our model. Six hundred years ago the Babylonian civilization bequeathed to the world the Code of Hammurabi. The code, which was carved in stone, set out legal provisions covering land and business regulations, family law, tariffs, wages, trade, loans and debt. The main principle of the code was that "the strong shall not injure the weak".

We must not accept anything less than the original. Mr. Luhut, your follow-up piece, please?

E. WIJAYA

Jakarta