Colonizer retains old music

I refer to Mr. Budi Setiawan's letter (July 19) on colonialism. Smuggling opium represents nothing more than the usual and well-tested trick used for soothing and stifling people's reaction against what is going on around them. Moreover, to foster opium taking is a painless way of killing people. Why waste precious bullets if the same result can be reached in bloodless way?

In China the sign "entrance is forbidden to Chinese and dogs", boarded onto the houses of British residents, belongs to past times. But in more recent history, the time of apartheid in South Africa, the "real owners" of the country were forbidden to use the same sidewalks as the colonialists or use the same bus occupied by the intrusive minority.

Notwithstanding, the present times are wiping out the past ones and I believe that colonialism is still a topical subject. And since the armed invasions cannot be carried out anymore, the masters in colonialism resort to more sophisticated ways. For instance, the imposition of a language that ousts and warps the traditional one represents a new display of a concealed colonialism. Nowadays the colonizers, waving the word "globalization", create their own entrance key to be used at the appropriate moment. They throw open the doors of their own country's schools and universities to the people of the countries to be colonized. When the students go back home they will become the unaware "long hand" of the colonizers.

Is Mr. Setiawan really sure that colonialism is a bad dream of the past? Take as an example the country in which we are living now and try to get a good job here without being "fluent in spoken and written English" or without being able to use the computer. The answer has been partially given by Ms Rosyidah in her July 20 letter. Maybe the dresses change but the players and the music are still the same.

PIERO RONCI

Jakarta