Asian women and western partners

After reading the letter written to Kompas by Hertien K. Surtikanti that was reprinted in The Jakarta Post on June 29, I am, as an Indonesian married to an expatriate, very angry with what has been written.

"On average Asian women especially Indonesians are proud and stuck up if they work for or have a personal relationship with a Western man. These women see things from the exterior only." How many, especially Indonesian, women has she made this assumption from?

I and my many friends who are Asian and married to Westerners never think that we are "more" than we feel. I consider that this low-value attempt to demote such relationships is based on either jealousy of those who have a relationship with a Western partner, or a consideration that such a relationship is not every bit as loving and caring as any other relationship in the world.

I think that anyone who is educated would not write such nonsense simply because of an apparently single negative impression. That is not fair on Asian women with a Western husband or partner.

MARTHA BOOTHBY

Jakarta