On pedophiles in Bali

On pedophiles in Bali

In the Aug. 29 edition of The Jakarta Post you ran an
interesting section of several articles on pedophilia in Bali.
This was accompanied by a photograph of a light-skinned man
sitting on the beach with a dark-skinned boy. The caption, as
well as the positioning of the photo, made it absolutely clear
that this photo was meant to illustrate a pedophile and his toy.
In Aug. 30 of the Post, you ran a cowardly disclaimer stating
that it was merely meant to illustrate "Bali". What a load of
rubbish!

While many of the statements made in your articles are
undoubtedly, and unfortunately, true, I am extremely disappointed
that the Post should fall into the trap of attributing all such
evils to "foreigners" -- as if there are no pribumi (indigenous)
pedophiles. We know from your previous articles on the sex
industry that this is simply not true -- there would be no child
prostitutes if there were no customers! Indonesia has enough
"devils" of its own without you needing to conjure up "foreign
devils".

I am a bule, married to an Indonesian and the stepfather of
two young boys (I am also a teacher -- mainly of young children)
-- thanks to the unfortunate slant of your articles, no doubt
some people will now wonder if I am a pedophile when they see me
with my children.
Thanks a lot JP!

CHRIS LASDAUSKAS

Bekasi, West Java