Slimmer, non-smoking Alatas back in action

Slimmer, non-smoking Alatas back in action

JAKARTA (JP): After nearly two months out of action, a slimmer
Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas returned to work on
Saturday, promising that he is giving up smoking.

Alatas suffered a heart attack late in May and had been
undergoing treatment, including a quadruple bypass in Melbourne,
Australia, and a long rest.

On Saturday, he reported for duty to President Soeharto at the
latter's Jakarta residence on Jl. Cendana.

"I've shed five kilograms from the around 70 kilograms
previously," Alatas, in cheerful tone, told reporters after the
meeting. "And I've had it with smoking. Truly, it was not
pleasant to have a heart attack and undergo an operation."

Prior to the heart attack, the minister, known by his staff as
a workaholic, was a chain smoker, finishing off two packs a day
and combining regular tobacco smokes with kretek (clove)
cigarettes.

"I've given it up completely now. I'm even trying to avoid the
smoke from other people's cigarettes," he said.

Alatas said the President advised him to phase in to his work
gradually, but the minister admitted that he was "itching" to get
back into action after the long rest, noting that a lot of things
had happened during his absence.

As if to prove his point, he said he will be leading the
Indonesian delegation to a series of annual ministerial meetings
of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Bangkok
this coming weekend.

Apart from being slimmer, there were no other visible signs
that Alatas had been ill, a sign that the long rest had done him
a lot of good. To clarify his reason for spurning cigarettes, the
minister opened his shirt to show the 15 centimeter scar left by
the surgical incision.

He said that there were three causes for his heart condition.
Besides the smoking, there was the stress from work, and then the
cholesterol.

To maintain his health, Alatas has now taken up walking every
morning and doing a little of jogging, accompanied by his wife.
He said he has temporarily stopped playing golf.

The minister said during his absence from work, he tried to
follow events related to his work, although while in the
hospital, the doctors barred him from watching television or
reading newspapers and magazines.

In Australia, the hospital almost completely isolated him to
ensure adequate rest, to the point that even a phone call from
President Soeharto in Jakarta was rejected, Alatas said.

Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating and Foreign Minister
Gareth Evans were also denied access to see him. But after Alatas
reminded the hospital's operators that the two were their own
leaders, the two top officials were allowed to visit him on
separate days. (emb)