Let's Talk It Over

Let's Talk It Over

One cannot but admire the U.S. First Lady Hillary Rodham
Clinton. She could really relax and enjoy the privileges and
luxuries that go along with the august office of the president of
the world's most powerful nation. Instead, she chooses to trot
around the globe to get a first-hand account of the peoples'
lives all over.

The Talk It Over column by HIllary Clinton, featured every
Sunday, is a welcome addition to The Jakarta Post.

Hillary brings an invaluable insight into whichever topic she
chooses to comment on. Her writings bring her out as a very warm-
hearted person, genuinely interested in the welfare of the
people.

Her recent article Modern culture badly needs inner values
(The Jakarta Post of Sept. 25) is a reflection of her strong
condemnation of unethical advertisements and sales promotion
gimmicks. One should readily concur with her that advertising has
become "adver-teasing" -- seeking profits without ethical norms.
The degeneration of social values is strikingly clear.

In the field of advertising, a humorous description is that
there is 85 percent confusion and 15 percent commission. In the
pursuit of maximization of profits, the boundaries of public
decency and morality are often crossed by the media. Ads showing
females as objects, even for products remotely connected with
women, are quite common.

Mahatma Gandhi describes "Commerce without morality" as a
worst social sin.

There are now 24-hour movie and film music channels produced
by private TV networks in many countries. Pray, for what purpose,
are these 24-hour channels intended for, except, perhaps, to line
up the pockets of media men and business people?

The other day, when I was in my home country, I was totally
aghast at seeing a student keenly watching a film early in the
morning on cable TV, of course it was interspersed with
commercials. Is this not commercial exploitation? Movies and
music are meant for relaxation and should not be screened in the
morning during our most productive hours.

We should commend the interest evinced by HIllary Clinton on
matters of such public importance. We have to care for the
society we live in. Hillary's preeminent position in the world's
stage lends sufficient authority and credibility to her candid
comments.

D. CHANDRAMOULI

Jakarta