I am not Winters' close friend

Your news item on Sunday, Oct. 18 made mention of me being a close friend of Jeffrey Winters. The statement, however, needs qualification. I don't want Jeffrey and The Jakarta Post readers to think I am a name dropper. The qualification came from The Jakarta Post, not from me or from Jeffrey.

The truth is, Jeffrey and I have been exchanging e-mails, because he was scheduled to speak at the Indonesia Forum, an international conference I am organizing. Jeffrey in fact was the first international speaker to give us his confirmation, which I appreciated a lot.

I have never met Jeffrey in person, nor spoken to him on the phone. I didn't even know Jeffrey was in town until I saw his name in the press, and by then he had already left. Our exchange of e-mails has intensified these last few days and they are all related to whether or not he will be coming to Jakarta to address the Forum.

If frequency of meeting is the determinant, I am in fact qualified to be a close friend of Minister Ginandjar for I have met him more than five times. But, I cannot make such a qualifying statement either. Closeness, especially in friendship, is more quality related.

The same news item also carried another error. Indeed Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad was invited to address the Indonesia Forum, but last week we sent press releases advising the media that we had just received a note from Dr. Mahathir regretting that he would not to be able to make it.

BONDAN WINARNO

Jakarta