We letter writers are naive
A letter about this newspaper's "Your Letters" writers. During these trying political and economic times, some of the more serious readers of The Jakarta Post might think some of these letters are a bit frivolous. However, one of the strengths of your newspaper is mixing the light items with the serious -- whether in reader's letters or in news articles.
What prompts me to write again is that I was recently browsing through some old clippings and magazines. No, I do not count how many letters I've written to Post. I'll leave that to our recently departed Mr. Osvaldo Coelho, whose 152 seems to be the record (Oct. 13). Our kind Indian correspondent, Mr. Chandramouli, reported some time ago when he hit a "century" in his Post letter writing. But I truly believe that the real all- time record belongs to that mysterious (or sneaky) personage, "Name and address withheld".
There was a time when letters from Indonesians -- or, in international publications, from Indonesia itself -- were few and far between. In this matter I am reminded of the German reader in Ambon who wrote to say that many letters to the Post were, in his view, "naive". Well, Mr. Know-It-All, I would like to draw your attention, if you are still in this country, to the fact that several regular writers to this newspaper have also had letters published overseas.
Newsweek, in its Oct. 13, 1997 issue, printed a letter from Ms. Rahayu Ratnaningsih, writing about media overkill in the reporting of Princess Diana's death. On Nov. 26, 1998, Far Eastern Economic Review published a letter by Mr. Jim Plouffe of Jakarta, commenting on the upcoming Indonesian elections. I happen to have clipped out an article from the Post several years ago by this same Mr. Plouffe, writing about the Terry Fox run, as I am also interested in keeping healthy.
During the devastating forest fires last year, former Jakarta resident Ms. Debe Campbell had a letter published in an international newsmagazine, grousing that the international media were doing the Indonesian tourist industry a great disservice by making it seem that the whole country was affected by haze. Ms. Campbell is a travel writer now based in Bali,
Returning to my clippings, I read again that a Mr. Dan Getz wrote to the Post on June 7, 1995, suggesting that this newspaper "use greater discretion in accepting letters from readers". Mr. Getz was criticizing the Post's dearly beloved Mr. A. Djuana, and suggested that Mr. Djuana "take a very cold shower". The reason? Mr. Djuana "delivered adolescent sermons" and could not "refrain from casting judgments on others".
I have read Mr. Djuana for years and prefer his letters to more tedious ones written by other correspondents.
The Jakarta Post's editorial staff's decisions to publish Mr. Djuana's letters are in line with the judgments of editors at other publications. Readers who pay attention may have noticed that Mr. Djuana has been published several times internationally. Anyone who thinks that the prestigious Far Eastern Economic Review made a mistake in publishing Mr. Djuana's letter in its June 25, 1998 issue, should be the one taking the cold shower. We letter writers are naive, indeed.
FARID BASKORO
Jakarta