On celebrations

I am writing in response to Umadi's letter of Nov. 9, "Krismon and celebrations". It seems the writer has tried to combine too many things, and it is not clear whether Umadi suggests that expats should not write for the paper, or whether they should not participate in or conduct celebrations.

I don't intend to engage in a point-by-point debate with the writer. Nevertheless some points in the letter need to be clarified.

Most importantly, there has been no 600 percent income increase for anybody. That is probably a mathematical exercise, relevant for the brief period when the rupiah was 15,000 to the U.S. dollar. And there is no windfall either. On the contrary, most expats have been adversely affected, very much like the majority of the people because many expats have lost their jobs and left Indonesia, and many expat incomes have been reduced considerably, directly or indirectly. Therefore, it is better not to discuss this sensitive issue too much.

Krismon or no krismon, celebrations never cease, nor does the crisis. In a heterogeneous society with a free economy, these things always go together. Isolating a particular group of people and stating that they are celebrating while others are in crisis is not in good taste.

I would presume the writer's comments about the author of a "By the Way" article dated Oct. 25 was only "by the way", and Umadi's focus is somewhere else. Whatever the writer's intentions are, it is certainly not good to pick up a single newspaper article on this common subject and comment about the author, accessing some distorted information about his activities. At the same time, since I know the author personally, I want to confirm that he is a conservative person by nature, and he does mean and practice what he says/writes.

Developing some ideas and contributing them through the media comes from one's natural instinct. While appreciating the writer for coming out with whatever feelings he/she had in mind, I must say that it is not correct to make a sweeping statement that expats' ideas are funny and unworkable.

Whether anybody gives advice or not, expatriates are quiet by nature, whether they have had a windfall or the opposite. That is the very reason why there has been no immediate rejoinder to the Nov. 9 letter.

RANGANATHAN

Jakarta