Illness finds its way in by the mouth

Illness finds its way in by the mouth

President Abdurrahman Wahid's tirade against Singapore while
attending the ASEAN summit last weekend in Singapore has invited
instant criticism, with critics denouncing the tirade as an
"inelegant" emotional outburst. This should teach him an
invaluable lesson about self-restraint in his words and deeds.
Maybe now he will stop being such an avid globetrotter and start
putting the house in order.

This unfortunate incident reminds me of a Chinese adage taught
in Chinese primary schools in the prewar days: "Illness finds its
way in by the mouth; misfortune bursts out from the mouth." The
wisdom holds true from time immemorial.

Being a Chinese-Indonesian traumatized by the devastating May
1998 riots, I shudder to think that the President's ill-advised
outburst could incite racial violence against the Chinese by the
Malay people.

LIEM SIAN TIE

Jakarta