Time worry

The letter by Behme on Indonesian time (The Jakarta Post, Sept. 10, 1995) reminds me of a story I learned while a student in the mid 1950s. It happened that somebody wanted to know exactly how much two times two actually is. So he flew abroad to find out from people he met in different countries.

When he landed in Frankfurt he asked the first German he met, who just happened to be a mathematician. "Mein Herr," he said, "I am doing research to find out how much two times two actually is. Could you give me the answer?"

"No doubt about it," said the German. "It is exactly four, no more, no less."

Taking note of this, he took off to New York and the first American he asked was an engineer. At that time there was no portable calculators so the engineer pulled out his slide rule. After a small operation the engineer answered, "Well, it is actually between 3.9 and 4.1, but most probably it is four."

Still curious he asked the first Japanese he met at Haneda Airport the same question. The Japanese man happened to be a banker. "I am deeply sorry," the banker responded with a deep bow, "but is it buying or selling?"

Now this fellow was getting confused, so he returned to Jakarta still unsatisfied. While sipping his kopi kocok telor dengan madu (coffee with raw egg and honey) he complained to an Indonesian sitting next to him who looked very well-dressed and seemed to be very intelligent.

"Well Bung," he addressed this person, "I have been traveling for a week now to Germany, the U.S. and Japan to find out how much two times two actually is, but I got different answers. I wonder whether you can help me in this matter?"

With a big smile and his hands opened, the gentleman said "Well, friend, what's the worry? How much do you want? Leave it to me. It all can be arranged."

The gist of the story is, reader Behme, there are many answers to a simple question. It is for you to find out which one is the most trustworthy. In your case, when I was in elementary school before World War II, my teacher told me that the international time follows Greenwich Mean Time. Later I learned that the BBC always broadcasts GMT up to the second.

Now, when I want to be ready for a party, I use the time in my bedroom which is 30 minutes early to give my wife ample time to get ready. For other purposes, well, what's the worry? After all these time checkers are themselves not worried whether their time is right or not.

M. ANWAR IBRAHIM

South Jakarta