Proud to be an Indonesian

I was very disappointed to learn that Eka Dewi (The Jakarta Post, Oct. 29, 2003) does not respect our country and does not feel proud to be an Indonesian. A student of the London School of Public Relations, she cannot make the distinction between a state and a government.

Corruption, collusion and nepotism are practiced by some government officials, who, ironically, used to condemn corruptors when they were younger. Now that they enjoy important government positions, their corrupt practices are worse than their predecessors.

If Eka and the like do not feel proud to be Indonesian and are reluctant to sing the national anthem, Indonesia does not need them and they may move abroad.

These people do not have any gratitude for the older generation and their sacrifices in defending our independence. Thousands of them died fighting the Dutch colonial soldiers, who also killed thousands of civilians.

When I was in elementary school, I was bitterly angry upon seeing a picture of the transportation by sea of our freedom fighters to Boven Digul (now Irian Jaya), their land of banishment. Their legs chained, these people were also chained to one another to prevent them from jumping into the sea.

In the colonial era, there were only five elementary schools for indigenous Indonesian children and children of Chinese and Arabic origin in Surakarta, but today there are innumerable government elementary schools there.

Yuki, of Chinese descent, feels she has been discriminated against. If so, she should move to another country where there is no discrimination. Chinese-Indonesians, while being discriminated against, also practice discrimination. Few indigenous Indonesians are found in the top management of large companies owned by Chinese-Indonesians.

Contrary to the youngsters, I am proud to be Indonesian. In this respect we must always remember how our independence was achieved.

Some countries were lucky enough to receive their independence from their former colonizers. Indonesia, however, had to fight hard and bitterly to gain its freedom, both through diplomatic channels and armed resistance.

As a schoolboy I joined the independence war. Armed with only primitive weapons, we defeated the Dutch soldiers who were equipped with modern weapons.

SUNARTO PRAWIROSUJANTO Jakarta