Chocolate promotion

It was disturbing to read the article by Bruce Emond in The Jakarta Post (July 1) commenting on the late arrival of His Excellency, the Ambassador of Belgium at a recent promotion at the Mandarin Oriental, Jakarta.

Mr. Emond, along with other journalists, had been invited to attend a luncheon prior to the official opening of our Chocolate- Chocolate promotion at KafeKafe. At no time was it indicated that the Ambassador would be attending this luncheon, nor were journalists asked to wait for his arrival prior to commencing the luncheon. His Excellency arrived punctually at 2:30 p.m. to officiate the opening of the Chocolate-Chocolate promotion, which preceded the first cooking demonstration at 3 p.m.

It appears that Mr. Emond was somehow distracted from the purpose of his visit which was to evaluate the contents of the promotion featuring Belgium chocolates and Chef David Austraete of Puratos, Belgium.

An official apology to His Excellency is warranted, I feel, and I would expect a retraction to be published at your earliest convenience.

INGO C. PETERS

General Manager

Mandarin Oriental

Jakarta

Note: The "guest of honor" referred to in the lead of the article was obviously Chef David Austraete (identified in the article as "the man we had been waiting for"), not the Belgian ambassador, who would also attend the cooking demonstration. The event, according to the Mandarin Oriental's invitation, was scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m., not two and a half hours later as Mr. Peter's letter says. Chef Austraete arrived at 2 p.m.

-- Editor