Don't lose

Don't lose more islands

From Media Indonesia

My heart broke to learn that, whatever the reasons, Indonesia had lost East Timor. And I found it strange that Abdurrahman Wahid -- when he was president -- changed the name of Irian Jaya to Papua, a phenomenon that I believe has the potential to cause disintegration as Papua is the name of a state on the eastern part of the island where Irian Jaya is located. Our first president, Bung Karno, named the western part of the island -- known later as Irian Jaya -- Irian, so why must we change it back to its old name?

I was even more brokenhearted learning that Sipadan and Ligitan islands were no longer part of Indonesia. It was really shocking, therefore, to read in this newspaper that Indonesia would soon lose four more islands.

Good Lord, are we so weak that we will lose more islands in the future? Are we really indifferent about maintaining our unity and sovereignty as a nation? Maybe the crisis caused us to lose all hope for a good and orderly life. The traffic is a good example of this. Drivers seem to no longer heed the traffic regulations.

Have we ever imagined how difficult it was for Bung Karno to unite this nation? And a long time ago Gajah Mada, the chief minister of the great kingdom of Majapahit, once brought most of Southeast Asia under the banner of the Majapahit. Gajah Mada and Bung Karno are probably weeping to learn how this country has lost some of its territory.

R. WINNIE LEDWINA

Purwokerto, Central Java