Indonesia and tourism

Indonesia and tourism

From Pikiran Rakyat

I would like to comment on the article by Moch. Djamali Z. (Pikiran Rakyat, March 14, 1995) about Indonesia.

Indeed, Indonesia is not that popular in the United States, Western Europe and other countries which are technologically and industrially more advanced. And there is nothing wrong with that.

Now let's look at Indonesia. The Indonesian people know the United States and Japan quite well. But how many of them know the names of the countries in the African continent. Frankly, I did not know Honduras and Cameroon before. I only know them since they took part in the World Cup tournament. Yet I still do not know exactly where those countries are on the world map. So I am not surprised if Indonesia is not known by the societies of developed countries.

But, Indonesia is surely popular among the non-aligned countries. Of course Indonesia can be promoted through tourism. In this context I have something to suggest to the Ministry of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications.

One day when I visited my home town in Central Java I saw many people conducting a special ritual on the beach--an offering to the Mythological Queen of the South Java Coast, popularly known as Nyai Roro Kidul. This is clearly a polytheistic belief. These people must be taught the right teachings of the religion. Surprisingly, the TVRI station in Yogyakarta covered the event for promotion of tourism.

I do not agree to this means of promotion. Our society believes in God, so should not give prayers to Nyai Roro Kidul. Why don't we display the natural beauty, the beauty of the beach, the flora and fauna. Foreign tourists find paddies very interesting. They like to take pictures of themselves in the rice field. There are many ways to promote Indonesia and sell its beauty to tourists.

SAPTI R. WIDYARATIH

Bandung, West Java