Take a lesson in good manners

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