Kudos to the 'Post'

In recent months the media have come under attack from various quarters for the irresponsible manner in which they have portrayed events. It is not my place to argue for or against the various claims, nor to proffer my own views as to the important role in society of the media and their power to help or hinder a country's social, moral and economic development.

This letter, in its unsolicited form, is to express my appreciation to the staff of The Jakarta Post who, for the four years that I have been in Indonesia, have provided me with news, information and views concerning events in Indonesia and the rest of the world.

Although limited in pages, compared to the New York Times or Sunday Times, it has been more than sufficient to enable me to keep abreast of developments both here and overseas without taking up my whole day ploughing through unnecessarily padded and opinionated reportage. I have not always agreed with the comments and views published, which on occasion I have considered controversial, at times inflammatory and once in a while downright libelous. But the newspaper is not aimed to just please me and I therefore respect its need to publish thought-provoking material.

I have found the balance, subject matter and presentation of the articles to be most professional. I suppose if I were to single out any particular contributor to the Post for merit it would be Mr. Zatni Arbi for his weekly features on computer software and hardware. Not only have I found his articles to be extremely informative, but I consider them to have been written to a consistently high standard.

It is with considerable regret that my current assignment in Indonesia is due to end. Apart from the Indonesian people and way of life which I have come to love, I shall sorely miss The Jakarta Post.

I.T. GORDON-PULLAR

Carita, West Java