Rugby
Rugby
It is with some reluctance that I am taking issue with Mr. RB
Sawrey-Cookson's letter (Give us rugby football, May 5, 1995),
suggesting that for four whole weeks, and perhaps more, The
Jakarta Post's sports pages be filled with games like rugby and
cricket, none of which are popular among Indonesian readers. The
reason for the reluctance is that Mr. Sawrey-Cookson (if I
remember correctly) fought in World War II, and I deeply respect
veterans of that heroic struggle against Naziism and Japan's
militarists.
According to the latest survey, The Jakarta Post's readership
consists of 63.4 percent English-speaking Indonesians and 36.6
percent expatriates (9.2 percent Americans, 11.3 percent
Europeans, 10.9 percent Asians, and 5.2 percent from other
nationalities). Let us say that half of the expats hail from
Commonwealth countries and countries like France, with a rugby
tradition. That still leaves only about 18.8 percent of the total
readers (at the most) who are likely to follow those sports
mentioned above. What about the rest of us?
The most popular sports among Indonesian readers are (in
approximate descending order) soccer, badminton, tennis,
basketball, volleyball, boxing, table tennis, chess, and archery.
This is just a conjecture, based on reporting in the Indonesian
press.
The Jakarta Post is an Indonesian newspaper with an
international outlook. It is meant to be read by all foreign
nationals including Britons, Arabs, Chileans, Japanese, Russians,
Chinese, Filipinos and other foreigners residing here.
I do understand and sympathize with Mr. Sawrey-Cookson's
problem and the predicament of cricket and rugby lovers like him.
British newspapers in Indonesia cost up to 12 times the price of
The Jakarta Post and four times that of U.S.-owned papers like
International Herald Tribune and that sort. Australian newspapers
are almost non-existent here. But there is always Singapore's
Straits Times, where the British influence runs stronger.
Let us leave the choice of sports in The Jakarta Post's pages
to its Indonesian editors. The sports pages seem to be good the
way they are. Sorry to disagree with you, Mr. Sawrey-Cookson, but
ice hockey is a tremendously exciting sport. I am sure many
Americans, Canadians, Russians, Swedes and others would agree
with this.
Finally, this next piece of information might be useful to
you: the BBC can be heard in Indonesia on 11955 kHz in the
mornings and 11750 khz in the evenings (both on the 25 meter
band). At 4:45 p.m. there is a sports roundup. Radio Australia
can be heard loud and clear in this country. From the sports news
sources I suggested, you can have all the rugby and cricket you
want!
FARID BASKORO
Jakarta