Seperate but equal

I find Ms. Kallman's letter quite provocative (East and West, The Jakarta Post, July 6, 1996), although I wouldn't know what really provoked her to write it. I must say, though, she does have a preacher's spirit.

Yes, we in the East have a lot of problems, and yes the East could learn from the West. But it is equally true of the West vis-a-vis the East: the West, too, has a lot of problems and the West too can learn from the East. Ms. Kallman should admit that Western society isn't exactly what she (or anyone else for that matter) could call a model society. And Westerners do have a tendency of blaming others for their own shortcomings. Ask the Japanese.

The main difference in the two value systems is not the degree of openness and it certainly isn't the degree of honesty over who we are; but how each society views the balance between the rights of the individual and those of society. If westerners choose to emphasize the former and the easterners the latter, then leave it at that! Neither party has the divine right to dictate its values on the other.

Nevertheless, differences should not divide but rather unite us in facing the increasingly immense problems humanity is facing. We can and we should learn from each other. I would be very disappointed if after 12 years in the East Ms. Kallman has learned nothing.

ARTO S.R. SURYO-DI-PURO

Jakarta