How laws work

This is in response to the debate about death penalties for drug offenders and distribution of money to the poor.

The only laws that work in Indonesia are the simple ones. Giving money to the poor, after the higher prices, is extremely complicated and will never work. It will only provoke violence, crime and corruption.

Death penalties for selling, buying or using drugs are simple and work perfectly, people are found guilty everyday and thrown in jail for as long as possible. It is smoother and flawless, even compared to Taufik Hidayat's fantastic badminton skills. Hell, if the police can prove you were in the room with a drug user, you will be in trouble! Much easier to prove for the police, than for a poor person to prove he needs money.

Western countries (read, Aussies) are outraged by this way of punishing drug offenders. Western societies are based on a strong Christian moral, we punish the bad and help the weak. The bad guys sell drugs, the weak guys use drugs. We believe that if you treat people like criminals, they become criminals.

PETER BERNT Jakarta