Indonesians must be optimistic

Indonesians must be optimistic

With reference to Mr. Mada Suradi's letter in your paper dated
April 29, 1999, I am very anxious and shocked that in this era
there is a person who still has an opinion like him, someone who
would like Indonesia to be under British rule rather than what it
is now. His opinion not only disregards all the Indonesian heroes
who sacrificed their lives for independence, but also disrespects
all the heroes from developing countries who have struggled to
stand on their own feet rather than become a slave to foreigners
in their own country.

Although Indonesia nowadays is experiencing many troubles, as
good citizens we should be optimistic in facing the future. We
should be sure that there is a way to solve the current problem.
There are many ways for responsible citizens to serve their
country, regardless of how little the service is. But we should
not even toy with the faintest idea to surrender our sovereignty
to any other country, not even to the richest and most powerful
country in the world, nor to any world bodies like the UN, the
IMF, the World Bank, NATO, etc..

D. SETIAWAN

Jakarta