Excellent sports coverage

First of all, congratulations to The Jakarta Post on its fine coverage of the recently concluded 13th Asian Games in Bangkok. The events were, thankfully, almost wholly drug-free, and the Thais did a great job as hosts, despite the current Asian recession.

Second, I believe it's about time the Post's hard working journalists received credit for their efforts. Special thanks to your reporter Ms. Primastuti Handayani, who covered the games directly, and also your sports editors, who often made up attractive headlines (Flying Koji Ito is Asia's new fastest man, Dec. 14).

Ms. Handayani's reports from Bangkok compensated for the fact that your regular news sources, the international wire services, hardly ever focus on individual achievements by athletes from nations considered lesser sporting powers. One wonders how many small countries which manage to win a single gold medal, for example, have the event covered in its local newspapers. Some national presses cannot afford to send journalists to international events like the Asian Games.

I read every article concerning Indonesian athletes and also followed the Games as a whole in your newspaper. The roundup featured on Indonesia's gold-medal winners in your Dec. 21 issue was superb. Although we can find information on our sports figures' exploits through the Indonesian-language press, too, The Jakarta Post's concise reporting and editing is far preferable to the long-windedness you often encounter here. Well done, Post.

After the bouquets must come a (tiny?) brickbat. Looking at the boxed results of events one day, I was surprised that you were reporting on "The ASEAN Games!"

FARID BASKORO

Jakarta