The English argument continues

I cannot agree with S. Wirawan's letter (""We need more than English"", The Jakarta Post, Aug. 21).

First, we Indonesians, should be proud of our own national language, and not use too many English words to replace Indonesian words already in existence in the Indonesian vocabulary.

Indonesian officials are especially enjoined to use proper Indonesian when speaking in public, and must not be afraid of being branded ""uneducated"" or ""out of date"" if they do not sprinkle their speech with foreign words.

This call is pertinent to Indonesia's 62nd anniversary of independence.

TATU FUAD MAULANI
Jakarta