Deviled egg on the face
A number of us Western readers were appalled to read a notice of congratulations in The Jakarta Post, July 19, page 14, by PT Pertamina to the wise leadership of Iraq on their glorious revolution in winning against the "devil spirit".
Since Pertamina is an Indonesian government enterprise, any politically sensitive or outspoken statement by one of their own offices reflects an official point of view and is presumed to have sanctioned approval of the government. However, after having contacted a Mr. Budi of the public relations office at the Ministry of Mines and Energy, he also expressed surprise and some dismay after understanding our strong concern over Pertamina's insensitive rhetoric. He politely emphasized that this opinion did not reflect that of his ministry, but said his ministry would not get involved in Pertamina's business.
As the language of the notice did not directly refer to any specific group or nation, even though every educated individual knows who the "devil spirit" innuendo refers to, the American Embassy is tactfully ignoring this notice.
The Post, to their credit and good sense of propriety, has stated that they generally refuse to accept all missives that smack of "hate mail" and will continue to prevent unfortunate episodes like this from occurring again in the future. This particular notice, that would normally have been filed in the rubbish, managed to slip by during a weekend.
Now, regarding the person or persons who scribbled this tripe; it originates out of the public relations office of Pertamina, but exactly from who cannot be ascertained. The manager, Mr. Fajar, has constantly been in meetings over the last two days and has not replied to numerous requests from various people for clarification. Is this notice a result of naivete or the expression of vexation at having been caught with the proverbial fingers in the till by the mother of all audits recently?
If Pertamina has any sense of common courtesy and professional ethics, it will issue an appropriate explanation for its not-so- subtle notice; that is unless Pertamina's intent is to insult the "devil spirit" Western companies that it works hand-in-hand with.
BRIEN F. DOYLE
Jakarta