Take a lesson in good manners

This is in response to a letter by Mr. Willem Oltmans, published in The Jakarta Post on March 11, 2000.

First of all, I would suggest Mr. Oltmans learn to respect other human beings and if he wants to criticize someone, then he should do it in a civilized manner.

Secondly, I would like to inform you that I am neither an Indonesian nor a fan of Henry Kissinger. But Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid is a democratically elected leader of Indonesia and whatever he does in this capacity is his right (of course, if it is based on good intentions). We people of the East already have suffered a lot of Mr. Oltmans' kind, and there should be an end to all of this.

We are being dictated to by the West on how to do things in our own homes; while doing so, Westerners have a tendency to forget what they did in their time of Jahilia (ignorance).

Mr. Oltmans should study the history of the Dutch colonization of Indonesia, which lasted for more than 350 years, but it will take less than three hours of Mr. Oltmans' precious time to feel ashamed of it if he has a little bit of a conscience left (which I doubt).

I do not understand how some people like Mr. Oltmans could have the courage to criticize other people in such a harsh fashion, forgetting all the evil deeds their own country did in the recent past. I think Mr. Oltmans' nation owes an apology to the Indonesian people, and Mr. Oltmans himself to Gus Dur.

It is probably right that you cannot teach an old dog new tricks. But, Mr. Oltmans, it is also never too late to learn decency and politeness. If you cannot learn it from your own people, come to Indonesia as a guest (not as a heartless damn Dutch colonizer) and you will find a lot of it and at no expense, which probably is very rare in your country.

SHAHID PERVEZ CHAUDHRY

Jakarta