What a dramatic situation!

What a dramatic situation!

More and more I find letters from readers to The Jakarta Post
about strange situations in Jakarta, like crimes at Soekarno-
Hatta Airport, uneasy things about airlines or parking spaces
etc. But reading a published article A thankfully short walk on
the wild side by Bruce Emond (The Jakarta Post, Jan. 14, 2001)
makes me feel sad. Traveling the world businesswise for over 20
years now, the last 2.5 years have taken me all over Indonesia.
My business brings me into contact with every walk of life, and
indeed, sometimes things are very strange or difficult to
understand. I myself drive in the jungle of Jakarta all day long,
and believe me I know the nice and bad things about Jakarta, and
sometimes this is hard to put up with.

I travel in and out of the country via Soekarno-Hatta airport
seven to 10 times a year. Apart from a stolen mobile phone (my
own stupidity) I've never experienced such dramatic events as
those described in the article. Aren't we judging people a little
prematurely, before we even try to imagine how different their
culture is to ours.

I'm not a forgiving or patient person at all, things have to
be improved, but don't you fear that articles like this in a
reputed newspaper will widen the gap between cultures?

And last but not least, aren't we all guests in this country
of our own choice? Only tolerance brings people together.

MAG RITTINGHAUS

Jakarta