Rugby: Minority of lovers

At the risk of boring The Jakarta Post readers through our ongoing debate on rugby (too trivial a matter for most of us), may I make the following points to reader Graeme St. John:

There is no need for linguistic chauvinism. In fact, it was rather amusing to see a native speaker of English rush off to his Collins Dictionary to find out the meaning of "worldliness." It shows he is not so sure himself. Try Random House's Unabridged: the word can mean "the quality of being experienced, knowing, sophisticated."

There is no need for cultural arrogance. Imposing a sport alien to most of us and which we have not chosen to favor smacks of a know-it-all, colonial attitude. Perhaps when rugby becomes an Olympic sport (2048?), Indonesians can start training for it.

There is no need for a condescending tone. Perhaps St. John can take a few pointers from Mr RB Sawrey-Cookson, who recognized my attempts to find a solution for the minority of rugby lovers in this country, and was gracious in his manner.

Now allow me to wait until bedtime to read The Jakarta Post sports pages. The 18.8 percent ("at the most") space allotted to rugby has been a great sleep inducer! Tennis, anyone?

FARID BASKORO

Jakarta