Do I deserve a medal?
Do I deserve a medal?
Unfortunately for me, this is not an athletic tournament
otherwise somebody would have nominated me a medal. From Aug. 21,
1998 until Aug. 21, 1999 which spans a period of one year, I have
been inspired to write letters numbering 33 last year plus 35 in
1999, about 70 in total.
I would like to thank the editorial staff of The Jakarta Post
for allowing me to get crazy at times to express my opinions on a
variety of topics. I began writing in reaction to a report that
one of the Post's journalists was charged with false reporting
about an accident involving an aircraft produced by national
aircraft industry IPTN. If the article was not retracted, the
journalist who covered the accident would be tried and face a
possible jail sentence. The IPTN insisted that the accident was
not due to manufacturing error.
As I believed and will always do in press freedom, a
rectification of the news should be adequate. In my first letter
I offered myself to go to jail in place of the "irresponsible"
newsman. The letter titled Press freedom appeared in the Post on
Aug. 21, 1998. Since then I have been writing letters more or
less weekly.
I did not limit my subject to the home front but included also
former South African president Nelson Mandela, Bill Clinton,
Sonia Gandhi and princess Diana. I am glad that I could call the
student reformists the "soldiers of conscience". Also I kept
expressing disagreement that the Golkar's chairmanship should not
be held by the state secretary. Now I like to thank those who
cared to read my "scribbles" and waste time in reacting to them
by agreeing or disagreeing or even correcting my inaccuracies.
The plight of the unfortunate (poor) deserve a place in the
Post. My soul and pen revolt against injustice and oppression.
After all, we live in one world and in one universe. If I do not
deserve special mention for my stamina and kind of
inquisitiveness, let alone a medal, I shall still be proud. I am
proud with my "feat". After all, I am a journalist in vein and
blood.
The letters section surely is not the most important part of a
paper but it is an interesting section where you can learn and
get a lot of information of all kinds from all sorts of people
and social strata, and appreciate the freedom of expression.
GANDHI SUKARDI
Jakarta