Ungrateful guest

I was ashamed to be an expatriate when I read Todd Gregory's disgraceful page 4 article in the Aug. 6, 1998 edition of The Jakarta Post, in which he accuses Indonesians of xenophobia. I hope all who read the article understand that Mr. Gregory was merely venting his own peculiar opinions, and by no means is speaking for expatriates as a whole.

I was ashamed to read that antiforeigner sentiment is at a fever pitch. I would argue that one would be hard pressed to find a country whose overall culture is more gracious, hospitable than, and genuinely friendly to foreign guests. As evidence of harassment, he cites police and customs officers -- two groups which are hardly representative of Indonesians on the whole. While the police force here has problems, I think I'd prefer to be an American pulled over by a Jakarta policeman than an Indonesian pulled over by a North Carolina state trooper. I would suggest that Mr. Gregory's views are typical of a small minority of expatriates who fail to adjust and acclimate to a foreign culture. Angry at their own shortcomings but unwilling to change, they vent their frustration by castigating what they don't understand.

Mr. Gregory also points to the evidence of Indonesia's "ingratitude" for "capital plundered from a (foreign) tax base". I would point out that the bulk of offshore debt in default was lent to private Indonesian companies by private foreign banks. The banks were seeking high returns and competing for market share, and should have been well aware of the risks.

In contrast to Mr. Gregory's experience, I've been impressed with how little anger has been directed toward foreigners, considering the stress on Indonesian society. Other developing countries in crisis have generated greater xenophobia when it was even less justified than here. If you feel harassed here, Mr. Gregory, don't visit India. Better yet, go home. I wish that before indulging in polemics, Mr. Gregory would understand that cross-cultural friction is a fact of life, and will naturally worsen in a society under such severe strain. Adding his own xenophobia to the forum is not constructive.

KEVIN O'ROURKE

Jakarta