On Australia's policy in Asia

I refer to Reaz Abdullah's letter (Australia's policy in Asia, The Jakarta Post, Dec. 30, 2004).

In a feeble attempt to purport that racism lies behind Australia's foreign policies, Abdullah's rhetoric is more than a little reminiscent of some of the hate-driven ramblings of the former prime minister of Malaysia.

Abdullah himself admits that "the larger more rational society" rejected Pauline Hanson and her racist One Nation Party -- more than that she and her supporters were pelted with eggs at their rallies and were treated with the contempt and scorn that they deserved.

However, to suggest that "such racist behavior exists somewhere in the dark corners of the Australian psyche" is an outrageous and totally ludicrous statement. Every society and every country occasionally throws up certain undesirable individuals whose opinions and actions decry the beliefs and morals of the majority of the population. Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, etc.

Currently, a Malaysian national is known to be responsible for leading the terror network in this country that is responsible for the death and maiming of scores of innocent Indonesians and other nationals, so maybe your concerns would be better directed within your own country? One could also point to the heavy-handed treatment and mass deportation of Indonesian workers from Malaysia and cry "racism". Or again one could point to the bumi putera system still operating in Malaysia today which clearly favors Malay nationals over Chinese Malaysians and other ethnic minorities, what better example of the "institutionalization of racism", as Abdullah puts it, does one need?

GRAHAM EDWARDS Jakarta