Revision in American dictionary needed

JAKARTA (JP): Attorney General Singgih has called on The American Heritage College Dictionary to revise its entry for Indonesia in time for the next edition.

Singgih told a parliamentary hearing yesterday that the information given by the dictionary, published by the Houghton Mifflin Company of the United States, is incorrect.

The dictionary, under the Indonesia entry, says that Indonesia proclaimed its independence on Dec. 27, 1949, instead of Aug. 17 1945.

"We have asked the Ministry of Education and Culture to right the wrong information by asking the publisher to make the correction in their coming edition," Singgih said.

The government banned the distribution of the dictionary last December after discovering the mistakes and asked the distributor, PT Etno Mitra Pustaka, to withdraw the book from circulation.

The distributor had earlier told the office of the Attorney General that 15 out of the 52 books it distributed had been withdrawn, while the remaining 37 had been sold.

According to Singgih, the American publisher had informed PT Etno Mitra Pustaka that the definition and information on Indonesia in the dictionary was obtained from a Dutch source.

In a letter to PT Etno Mistra Pustaka, the publisher asked for better and more detailed information about Indonesia in order to make the correction in its coming edition. (03)