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