Good and bad news

The good news first. The Jakarta Post deserves praise for the vastly improved quality of its writing, most notably that of Helly Minarti for her excellent discussion of the German Intellectual Heinrich Boll (April 24); Laksmi Pamuntjak-Djohan for her zippy, well-written review of an otherwise schlocky film (The Relic, May 25); and of course Zatni Arbi for his consistently outstanding computer articles. But it's lamentable that a half-page profile of such an important figure as W.S. Rendra (Sunday, May 25) was handed over to someone with an abysmal grasp of basic English.

In that light, now to the bad news. I would like to add my voice as one more victim of Telkom's monopoly, as there are no doubt many of us ready to hire a swat team to storm Telkom's oxymoronic "customer service" office.

My house in Bangka, Mampang has a split line, half of which is paid for by a coin phone box and the remainder paid by myself. For the past five months, my "remainder" has cost me an astounding 50 percent to 60 percent more than I've ever paid in the three years I've lived in Jakarta. I have all the receipts to verify my normal usage rate, yet Telkom doesn't respond.

I would like to inform Telkom that my number is 7190669, and the house owner's number is 082-1053980. If it's a meter problem, please fix it and refund what you've overcharged me.

LOUISE OWENS

Jakarta