The Sidney Jones case

I found several interesting things when reading an article by Jusuf Wanandi The Sidney Jones Case and the Presidency of Megawati published in The Jakarta Post of June 28.

I am one of those who admire Sidney Jones and have often read her writings. However, in this particular article, Wanandi seems to have gone somewhat overboard when "viewing" Sidney Jones ("... how much she loves Indonesia, and therefore, could do no harm to the country, society and nation she has given so many years of her life to ...").

The question is the extent to which Wanandi can measure her love for Indonesia. Is it just because she has spent many years in Indonesia doing research and criticizing our country?

It is said in the article that " ... she is critical, sometimes brutally." She is indeed critical but it is not appropriate to demonstrate your critical opinion at a time when that opinion may spark people's hatred for their government, or even lead to disintegration. This is indeed what Sidney Jones has often done.

Neither is it right to compare Sidney Jones to intelligence personnel. Anywhere in the world, intelligence work covers more than what Sidney Jones and her ICG do. It is also unwise to compare Sidney Jones with Hendropriyono because as an Indonesian citizen, it is obvious that his love for his country is not to be compared to a foreigner's love for Indonesia.

I believe the government does not hate foreigners. Many foreigners work and conduct research in Indonesia, and they have never caused trouble.

In the case of Sidney Jones' "deportation", this deportation does not affect the presence of the ICG in Indonesia. Sidney Jones and her assistant were deported because they did not possess a valid stay permit.

For me, it is better that we criticize our country by ourselves rather than allowing foreigners to do this for us because we can never know how much these foreigners really love our country. Besides, it is more painful to see our own citizens "sell" their country only to get "something" from foreigners. How can we thank Sidney Jones only because she is "honest" to us about our "shortcomings and mistakes"?

It would be better for us to work together to put the country in order rather than regretting "the loss" of Sidney Jones. We should be able to criticize our own country without having to expose this to outsiders. Of course, we must work together to find solutions and should never criticize without offering a solution.

A. AMIR
Jakarta