Rupiah-paid expatriates

The well-meaning Mrs. Hilda May has done a great many expatriates, including myself, a disservice in her letter "Help the poor to solve crisis" of Sept. 19. I ignore the faint odor of patronizing neocolonialism that clings to her letter. However, I cannot pass over the dangerous assumption she makes that all foreigners working in Indonesia are earning a salary paid in a foreign currency. This is by no means always the case.

There are many teachers, volunteers and aid workers who receive only a small rupiah salary. We are certainly not in a position to "increase the salaries of servants" -- some of us can't even afford "servants". We seldom use taxis, expensive hotels or five-star restaurants, so tipping is not relevant.

As we "white" expatriates already pay a slightly higher price than the locals for daily commodities because of our foreign faces, I feel that for rupiah-earning expatriates this is a sufficient contribution.

JEANNETTE JOHANSON

Jakarta