No sex stories, please!
After reading The Jakarta Post of March 21, 1997 I felt compelled to write.
First of all, my family and I do enjoy your paper. As long- time residents of Indonesia we find that feature stories from different locations, the editorials and letters all help us to be more informed about this great land.
We could purchase an Indonesian language newspaper but our daughters prefer to read English.
Your front-page feature "This Odd World..." is an usual feature. Once upon a time it contained interesting news items from around the world. Sadly though, over several months there has been a disturbing change which greatly offends us. In the last sixteen days you have subjected us to the following titles:
March 5 - No sex please, we're students.
March 10 - Penis-shrinking grips Abijan.
March 11 - Jilted husband cuts off penis.
March 12 - Teenager married a transvestite.
March 15 - Coach drops trousers in protest.
March 17 - Finger lost in vital defense.
March 21 - The organ takes balloon ride.
What a monotonous litany of disgusting sexual stories! Is there anything new or worthwhile in these stories? We would expect such material only in tabloids or in pornographic magazines.
Furthermore, are such stories really good reading for children and teenagers? There is a good deal of evidence that TV violence inspires similar acts. Similarly, stories such as you are printing on an almost daily basis put ideas into the heads of enraged or unstable people.
Please use your influential role to encourage the people of this nation to perform acts of kindness, not mutilation!
I am confident that a serious newspaper like The Jakarta Post can offer its readers better material. There are many unique events in our world.
You could print stories of people who gave unexpected help or have performed heroic deeds. Indonesia, with its many different cultures has many interesting customs that we could learn from. How about something to bring a smile to our faces?
Thank you in advance for your kind attention to this matter. I look forward to reading good things in "This Odd World..." in the future.
MRS. CHRISTINA MARKELI
Salatiga, Central Java