Confusing business and race

I would like to comment on the last letter written by Masli Arman (The Jakarta Post, May 27, 1996). I've been reading your paper for three years and I've never missed your interesting debates. So far, I have never felt the necessity to join in.

I could no longer maintain my silence noticing the same issues repetitively and compulsively raised by the writer. His narrow concept of nationalism in this ever changing world is pitiable.

Why invest in China and Hong Kong? Why send kids to study abroad? Why learn the Chinese languages? Well, why not?

All his statements are entirely academic. He must have heard of the global village by now, and be knowledgeable enough to know that the increasingly popular free-trade era, in which people, competition and money will flow freely among countries, will soon materialize. Nationalism will need to be redefined and borders among countries will become pseudo-existent.

I know that many indigenous Indonesian businesspeople invest in Australia, Vietnam, and former states of the Soviet Union, and, for purely business reasons, quite possibly, China and Hong Kong. Many high-ranking officials send their children to study abroad. The business climate dictates that people must learn Chinese languages in order to increase their competitiveness on the job market as well as grab business opportunities.

I'm a Javanese married to a Chinese. I would hate it if my children were suspected of having dual loyalists just because they are half-Chinese.

ANITA SIWI

Jakarta