Support for Timor car

Support for Timor car

Being an "expatriate", if this is the word for a guest of your
beautiful country, however very familiar with the situation of
the local car market, I would like to take the liberty to make
some comments on your paper's never-ending attack on Timor Putra
Nasional. My home country, Germany, is still proud today of the
fact that the biggest car maker in Germany, the VW Group
(VW=Volkswagen=the people's car) has grown from the ashes of
World War II to today's size, thanks to the vision of a
businessman, the support of the government and all the people of
Germany. Therefore, forgive me for not understanding the
Indonesian people's attitude, and particularly the local press,
towards the wise decision of an Indonesian entrepreneur, backed
up by the country's government, to launch the "VW of Indonesia,"
the national car.

Certainly the birth of such an extensive project is not done
in one day nor in one year (remember, it took the German
engineers 40 years) but it definitely does not deserve to be
killed before it is able to hatch.

Here, the press and other media should be united with the
people of Indonesia in support of the project and not be hostile,
or reject the project.

Your paper (and others) always refer to the "built by
foreigners, Kia car, which claims to be the national car".

This maybe an interim solution to gain technical know-how.
Does it not speak for the owner of Timor Putra Nasional and the
government to finance the project with the income from the
"privileged" interim product, instead of using tax money from the
Indonesian people? Does it not show everybody the sincerity and
dedication of the entrepreneur taking such a high risk from his
own pocket? Does it not show that with this project that private
industry and the government can form an alliance for the benefit
of all Indonesian people, by providing job opportunities and "in
country" advanced technical education?

And last but not least, does it not raise the heads of those
Indonesians who still look for technical superiority overseas --
Indonesians can do as well must be the message to them.

I personally feel very proud and honored to have the
opportunity to make a small contribution to the project of the
Indonesian National Car.

So, please give credit to the people engaged in and supporting
this difficult task by supporting them morally in their effort to
create the national car. Support does not mean to promote, but to
inform the public about the mistakes and the achievements during
the course of development.

GERHARD BOTHE

Jakarta