Soccer and commentaries

On Aug. 31, 1995, Mr. Piero Ronci wrote to say foreigners should have to view their televised soccer programs with commentaries in Bahasa Indonesia rather than in English. I have no argument with that. But because Mr. Ronci advocates the increased use of Indonesian I just wonder why he chose to write his letter in English, to an English language newspaper.

I wonder why, as a promoter of the national language, Mr. Ronci does not write to the Bahasa Indonesia newspapers in Indonesian. Why should an Italian use English to communicate with Indonesians, why not communicate in their own language? Or in his own language? As a matter of fact, since he is advocating changing the language of television commentaries, why does he not write to the TV stations directly? Why does he communicate via the newspapers?

The people who run the television stations show English soccer with English commentaries. They even show Italian soccer with English commentaries. If I was Italian it may make me see red. Maybe I'd be jealous as hell. I would wish they'd stop having commentaries with sporting events. As Mr. Ronci says: "After all, when watching at a stadium we don't have someone behind us telling us what is going on, do we?"

I have never been inside a soccer stadium. I have this dreaded feeling, that If I ever showed up at a match, I would get someone behind me, giving loud mouthed, self opinionated, befuddled opinions about every aspect of the game; the ineptitude of the players, the unfairness of the umpires, the skinniness of the linesman's legs, the patchiness of the English grass, the hardness of the English seats, the soggy English weather, the French pseudo players, the reason why mackerel follow sea gulls to the trawler grounds etc. Ad nauseam. (Pardon my French, I'm an Indian).

PETER E.R. CROSS

Jakarta