Garuda pilot in Dutch detention

From Suara Karya

On Jan. 25 Suara Karya reported the experience of Garuda pilot Muhammad Said who was invited for a drink by a person named Sheik in the hotel where the pilot was staying. I would like to make some points regarding this.

1. Muhammad Said, who I believe is a Moslem, already digressed by taking an alcoholic drink. He consumed five cans of beer and became dizzy. His host gave him medicine to carry, later known to be Ecstasy. His acceptance was certainly with an eye to the reward attached. He was courting danger.

2. Setting traps by little hooks is an old trick from World War I. The experience must always be paid very dearly. A cheap but often neglected measure is security.

3. The religious moral factor of security does not receive enough attention. I think we should return to the basis of the nation's ideals at the time of the Independence Proclamation in 1945 by Bung Karno and Bung Hatta, such as religious morals.

4. On the problem of the Dutch besmirching Indonesia as described by the Indonesian ambassador to the Netherlands, I would like to quote General A.H. Nasution who said, "From the old days our enemies have been the Dutch, ignorance and poverty." The Garuda pilot was arrested by the Dutch police because he was willing to cooperate with somebody in a prohibited act. Regrets are of no use.

To be in detention anywhere in the world is unpleasant. Only ignorant people torture themselves.

ZAKARIA HUSIN

Lhokseumawe, Aceh