Forum: Boycotting the Olympics -- April 19, p. 3

Wed, 04/23/2008 1:07 AM  |  Reader's Forum

Indeed, the Olympic record for most boycotts is held by China. It refused to take part in 1956 to protest the presence of Taiwanese athletes and then stayed away from the next six games as well!

It is thus far ahead of Taiwan itself, which has managed only three boycotts.

Among other countries, Ethiopia has also boycotted three Olympics, while Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Cuba, Gabon, Ghana, Iran, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, North Korea, Sudan, Swaziland and Togo have each boycotted twice.

Clearly, now that pulling out of the Games is so potentially expensive, no country will ever approach the Chinese record. So this is a good time to put an end to the boycotting competition and award the gold medal to China in perpetuity.

JOHN HARGREAVES
Jakarta

Honest taxi driver

Many people in Indonesia find life an economic struggle and under such circumstances it would be understandable if every advantage was taken when the opportunity arose.

I recently accidentally overpaid a Jakarta taxi driver by 10 times the fare. This man's honesty was such that the next day, in his own time, he went to the trouble of locating my office and returned the Rp 400,000 (US$43.49) overpaid.

I thanked him profusely and give him half the money for his trouble and to recognize his honesty.

While Indonesia faces a number of challenges going forward, the base for successful nation building lies in the character of its citizenry. This man's honesty is testament to that.
BRUCE J. WATSON
Jakarta

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