Dramatic rise in post office rate

Through this letter, I would like to tell the Indonesian postal service that in this era of reform, it is not considering the people's interest.

A friend of mine told me that it cost her Rp 12,800 to send a letter to Italy. I was shocked to learn of that fantastic postage increase and phoned 161 immediately to find out if the news was correct. Sadly, the woman confirmed the increase. A letter weighing up to 20 grams posted to Australia costs Rp 6,800; Rp 15,900 to the U.S.; and Rp 12.800 to Europe. Indeed that's a dramatic increase! There has been no change of price for local postage. Yet the globalization era opens much wider opportunities for everybody to correspond with people from other countries.

I have friends both here and abroad. As a high school graduate how could I possibly afford to conduct correspondence with my friends abroad. Consequently, I will lose contact with many of them.

I wonder whether the profit the post office gains from its philately business could reduce the cost of the postage service? In reality, the post offices's drive Gerakan Nasional Gemar Berkirim Surat (Write A Letter Campaign) is not reflected at all. And it is very disappointing. The motto no longer serves a purpose. You'd better do away with such empty idea.

DIAH ISTIANI K.

Bekasi, West Java