Embassy must give information

Embassy must give information

From Kompas

One of the tasks of Indonesia's embassies is to disseminate
positive information and to rectify any misleading information
about Indonesia.

On the night of Nov. 2, 1994, the World Tonight program on the
BBC talked about human rights violations in Indonesia. The
Indonesian ambassador was on hand to deny the charges made in the
report. But, it was a great pity that on Nov. 3, no Indonesian
official was on hand when Channel 4 reported on human rights
violations in Indonesia on their 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. program.

At the end of the program the newscaster said that they had
tried to contact the Indonesia Embassy in London but no one was
available.

This reflects a bad attitude on the part of the Indonesian
Embassy in London. They should know every time Channel 4 is going
to broadcast something about Indonesia because it has many
viewers.

The embassy wasted an opportunity provided by the TV station.
Could it be that all the embassy's staff were out of the country?

I hope such a thing will not occur again. I hope Minister Ali
Alatas will motivate his embassy staff more. They should not only
be able to help us, Indonesian students abroad, but also be ready
to answer questions from host countries.

INSAN BUDI MAULANA

London