Read between the lines

The reply from Mr. Toenggoel P Siagian of PSKD Jakarta exemplifies his unwillingness or rather his incapacity to read between the lines.

Mr. Toenggoel, I did not imply in my letter (The Jakarta Post, March 14, 2001) that you and your staff were taking bribes. If you had taken the time to understand my letter, you would have realized that I meant my colleague suggested that getting admission into the school might need some under-the-table money -- which I refused to believe.

In fact, if you had spoken to your subordinates, Ms. Julie Wayne, Ms. Angelina and Ms. Tiurma Pangaribuan, this matter would have been clarified during the meeting held at PSKD Mandiri. My daughter is still on the waiting list, but since the explanation given by the persons mentioned above is satisfactory and logical, I have no grudges, whatsoever, with PSKD Mandiri. I believe PSKD Mandiri also feels the same way.

As the director of the organization, you should have dealt with the facts of the matter first or even the issues on the table rather than torment me. You repeatedly mentioned in your letter that I implied that your school was taking bribes, when in fact I had never said anything of that sort.

Why can't you be like your subordinates who will go the extra mile to find out what went wrong and try to resolve it?

DENNIS VARGAS

Jakarta