Satellite television

Satellite television

In Jayapura we are fortunate enough to receive several satellite TV channels in our own languages (English and Indonesian).

We watch the Australian news, but most of their better programs come on after we go to bed since they play to Jakarta time.

The British BBC does not reach here, and we think the American channels are abominable. Particularly because we understand what they are saying, and how they are saying it.

So we started knob twiddling. And we found treasure! The French channel frequently shows beautiful films, which we enjoy without understanding more than a very few words! Unfortunately, the French are so chauvinistic about their culture that they do not have sub-titles. Hope you are reading, Monsieur Cultural Attache! Yes, we know Chauvin was a Frenchman who gave his name to that nasty idea.

If all those Indonesians with parabolas sprouting from their roofs as status symbols would back me up, we could send a petition to the French satellite broadcaster for sub-titles, so we could learn their precious language and understand what they are beaming at us. Of course, in this house the sub-titles would have to be Bahasa Indonesia and English.

E.S. WEBBER

Jayapura, Irian Jaya