Honor must be protected

Honor must be protected

No prophet has ever prohibited any believer, man or women, to
run, jump, throw, wrestle, knock or swim for the honor of his or
her country or to compete for the glory of sports.

But what begun about 500 BC in honor of Zeus, a god from Greek
mythology, in Olympiad, Greece -- from where the flame for the
modern Olympic Games is taken, continues until today.

Like many other countries, Indonesia is also sending a
contingent of athletes to compete in the Sydney Olympics, which
start on Sept. 15. Perhaps on an occasion such as this,
Indonesians realize the meaning of honor and they are ready to
die for it.

On other occasions, they prefer to forget honor and prefer
more to think of power and greed. International honor only dimly
penetrates the Indonesian mind. The U.S. president uses the word
"barbaric" to describe tragic incidents, such as the one the
world witnessed in Atambua, East Nusa Tenggara, which would not
have occurred had an organization such as the United Nations been
helping Indonesia.

We have been too lax and too lazy to guard matters that
constitute a potential danger that ticks away like a time bomb
and could explode and tarnish the country's honor worldwide. Why
was nobody aware of this latent threat that the refugee camps
held and whisper it to President Abdurrahman Wahid? Where was our
intelligence team?

Why, instead of dreaming of flying around the world in a new
Boeing aircraft, was he too careless to check to see whether his
own backyard was free of mines? It does not matter if you ride on
a donkey, an elephant or a camel, as long as you move forward and
reach your destination.

Of course mankind is grateful to the Greeks for "creating" the
Games in ancient times. But we should also remember Le Coubertin
for organizing the modern Olympics. I like to single out the
British for inventing so many games like football, so that the
word "corner" is pronounced the same in every language. Badminton
comes from England, the game and the town, of that name.

In the meantime, Indonesians are advised to work hard to guard
their honor domestically and internationally. To bring home gold
from Sydney surely is a great honor for your country. However,
the Atambua tragedy should remind us there are other values and
honors that we must learn to cherish and protect.

GANDHI SUKARDI

Jakarta