Refreshing joke

Mr. William Keeling must be a genius judging from the fantastic idea that he contributed to this country in his letter Three-in-one benefits the poor (Oct. 21).

According to him, three-in-one was a genuine way to transfer money from the rich to the poor which in my opinion is not educative at all. There should be many other decent ways to help the poor.

He also suggested that Timor national car owners should have unrestricted entry into the business area. This sounds ridiculous to me. While the world is still often complaining about our way of doing things -- our inefficiency, protectionism, discrimination, lack of discipline, and many other weaknesses as the list goes on -- he, on the other hand, is trying to encourage us to maintain and carry on with our negative attitudes. He must have been joking!

I do not think that I need to give specific counter arguments to his proposals, as I believe there are still a number of people in this country who can think sensibly, not only to solve the traffic problems in Jakarta, but also to deal with our other problems. The important thing is that we have to improve the system and individuals as well -- not in words but in deeds.

However, Mr. Keeling might be right in a way that we do need more jokes of a kind that can refresh our minds, since we have been worn out from suffering from a series of national disasters and severe economic turbulence.

JENNY LAURITZ KHOENG

Jakarta