Driving him up the Walls

Driving him up the Walls

Allow me, please, to augment Tim G. Babcock's July 4 Noise
letter with the following:

What can he possibly mean: "By itself the Walls Ice cream
jingle might not be so bad..."

Is Mr. Babcock mad or hard of hearing? It's gnawing into our
brains! The Walls Ice cream phenomenon is a foreign electronic
intrusion. An outrage to the Indonesian people and an insult to
the integrity of the repertoire of sounds which help make
Indonesia so special.

One doesn't find these nasty things in the Walls home
territory for the simple reason that the Australian public
wouldn't tolerate them. Easy though for the company to operate in
public-passive Indonesia. But if there is a single person among
Indonesia's almost 200 million people who doesn't find the
incessant Walls jingle disagreeable then I would be very
surprised.

Indonesia is undergoing something of a cultural awareness
revolution, promoting all things Indonesian. Hotel names are
changed from English, etc. One wonders how Walls' mindless jingle
fits into this scheme. But it does smell of big business and that
comes with its own rules.

There's no need to pussyfoot about "evanescence" and
"triviality." The problem is serious and without unified action
it will not go away.

Thank you, Mr. Babcock, for raising the subject. And while
you're at it, please find space to pity the sad individuals who
are dressed up like barber poles and condemned to push these
odious Walls carts. It sort of completes the indignation.

BOB HOBMAN

Manado, North Sulawesi