Mysterious ways

Newsweek of April 15, 1996 issue published two strange stories. A man who graduated from America's Harvard University and possesses a PhD in mathematics from Michigan University, sent parcel bombs to people, mostly university teachers. In 18 years 23 people were maimed or injured and three persons died, one of whom was blown to smithereens.

Although the man has been arrested, his motives are still unclear. I always thought that education made a man civilized and refined, but this story proves that there are exceptions to this truth.

In the same edition, I read that a Japanese millionaire bought a Van Gogh for US$82.5 million. I could not help exclaiming: "Holy mackerel! With that money he could have done a lot of good, like establishing an orphanage. I think that he have been a little mad, like the painter himself, who cut his own ear off in a fit of rage.

This Japanese millionaire was not a man who appreciated art. Before he died at the age of 75, he left a will to his inheritors to bury his painting with him. His descendants refused to comply.

This proves that man's mind is a mystery.

A. DJUANA

Jakarta