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