Colonialism lingers on

Since I have been the subject of criticism by Keith Marshall (July 1) and C.R. McRae (July 2), I would like to respond outright to both of them. If they can't understand my opinion about cricket and colonialism, I take responsibility for that. For sure, my knowledge of English is more than questionable.

Marshall highlighted colonialism's positive side, which made things worse since he expressed himself with a colonialist view. In fact, regarding Hong Kong he said the former English colony wouldn't be so advanced if it remained part of China for the last 150 years.

I wonder why colonizers have the tendency to only emphasize the crumbs they granted the colonized countries but always forget to mention the cakes they have grasped. Colonialism cannot be counted among the charitable institutions or nonprofit corporations.

And what about McRae's erudite disquisition about the sport's history? First of all, he should try to get better information. Soccer did not originate from Scotland. I congratulate the Britons for having invented everything. Then there was cricket's cousin: baseball and the famous "rounders". This is a juicy piece of news! I consider cricket and foxhunting as typical displays of snobbery.

I'm also convinced that it's senseless to correlate those "parodies of the sport" with popular ones like soccer or basketball played by young people on the streets or in the courtyards. Polemics aside, I'm sorry Marshall misunderstood my comment about the English flag. I can assure him that I deeply respect the flags of all countries in the world, including Britain's. But I'll continue to consider anything that is added to the flags of other countries an "awkward rectangle". In this case, it ceases to be a flag and becomes a symbol of colonialism.

PIERO RONCI

Jakarta