Greeting foreigners

I feel touched reading Paul Wesson's letter 'Be polite' published in The Jakarta Post, Oct. 30, 1996, in which he deeply regretted the way other expatriates reacted toward Indonesians who greeted them with "Hello Mister!" Other expatriates, he wrote, often rudely ignore or snub young Indonesian men who greet them on the street. I wonder why they do so? Does it do any harm to them just to make a friendly gesture to the greeters?

Generally, we greet foreigners (particularly bule, as we call them here) just to show our respect, although I realize a few do it for other reasons. So responding to such respect would require no more than just a smile, a nod or a wink.

BRAM SAHADEWA

Jakarta