Regent hates TV series

BELU, East Nusa Tenggara: Regent S.M. Pareira says that he detests the popular television soap operas known here as telenovela, because he feels that they are detrimental to local people's values.

The leader of Belu, with a population of 228,000, said recently that the soap operas have turned his people into "couch- potatoes".

"They spend hours in front of their TV sets. Students sneak out of school to go home and watch those awful TV series," he said. "It's fortunate that not many people here own televisions."

Belu is located on the border with neighboring province East Timor.

Pareira said the soap operas are unrealistic, unreasonable and non educational shows. "They consist only of people having illicit love affairs or moving from one partner to another," he said. (31)