The Sidney Jones case

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