Eye for an eye

Eye for an eye

I fully support the letter More blood donors needed by Alip Lamyadi (The Jakarta Post, Sept. 15, 1995). I hope he was awarded with a certificate of honor for having donated his blood 77 times, with his last visit on Sept. 17, 1995 coinciding with the golden year of the Indonesian Red Cross.

However, if I am not mistaken, and if the system has not been altered, the certificate is usually presented by the General Chairman of the Indonesian Red Cross, and not by the President. Only those who have donated blood 75 times or more are entitled to receive the award.

Dec. 20 marks National Solidarity Day, when the President gives awards to those having donated blood 100 times or more.

Alip Lamyadi suggested that young people over 18 donate blood every three months. This is indeed a positive suggestion. But an award should never be the sole motivation.

One can also become a donor of badly needed eye corneas. Bali's governor Ida Bagus Oka was the first to become a candidate for cornea donation at the Eye Bank's official dedication in Bali on Nov. 30, 1992. Let the other members of the society follow suit.

As a blood donor since 1950, I have donated 155 times. I have also registered as a cornea donor at the Aini hospital in Jakarta in 1977 and at the Eye Bank in Denpasar.

H. SOEMARKO KASIROEDIN

Denpasar, Bali