On naivete

Every newspaper reserves columns for public views, but especially to readers who express their God-given right of speech involving issues about life. These columns bear different names e.g. "Your Letters", "Viewpoint", "Opinions", etc. Whatever names they may be called, the purpose remains uniform as explained above. This is why these type of columns are as important as any other in any newspaper. Newspapers publish, for example, scary or fantastic experiences of others, which may be of profound benefit to society as a whole. In fact, there are columns that include academic/intellectual materials that add more to our general knowledge.

Politically and economically, a number of letters are full of enlightenment. As far as The Jakarta Post is concerned, its letters column is well blessed with outstanding writers, which may not be easily found with other newspapers elsewhere. Surprisingly, they come from almost every continent on the globe. For example, Farid Baskoro and D. Chandramouli are Asian.

I am African. Osvaldo Coelho is South American. Piero Ronci is European. To Mr. Helmut Krahmer, all the above is unfortunately "naive". I'm referring to his letter on May 5, 1997. Since it's naive, should the column itself be eliminated? If yes, then Mr. Krahmer himself will be personally affected, since he confessed that he enjoys those letters, quoted from his statement from the first paragraph of the May 5 letter: "I also enjoy the naive character of most of your readers' letters..."

So dear Mr. Krahmer, just like Mr. Osvaldo Coelho ("Your Letters": May 7), I also welcome you to this wonderful column that at times publishes statements that consumes one's mind for hours. Three months is not sufficient enough to let you know of all that's happening in this column. Further, the person whose letter you replied to was Mr. Agus Widianto (April 28, I have decided not to vote). So if I was you, I would specifically call his letter "naive" rather than generalizing it. Nevertheless, should you write again, don't be too surprised if your letter is described as "naive" by a reader. Never mind, your letters may be full of wisdom.

BUHARI ABDU

Jakarta