Forum: Interfaith tour to promote tolerance

Sat, 06/28/2008 11:54 AM  |  Reader's Forum

Religious tolerance is a hard thing to be internalized for some people of religion. Maybe what the dozens of young people from various religious backgrounds are doing is a better solution to manifest religious tolerance. PORMADI SIMBOLON
Jakarta

This understanding should be the very base of a religion to respect others. What on earth do religions teach if not love? JOHN WILFRED
Jakarta

Protesters destroy car on Jl. Sudirman June 24, Online

This demonstration shows us that the mentality of the protesters is not mature at all. Since a democratic country allows people to demonstrate, people should demonstrate in a peaceful way and not in an unpleasant way.

I am very sad that the culprits were university students. University students should be sensible in any steps that they take, furthermore I don't agree that university students should do this kind of demonstration.

It shows us that university students are indifferent to uneducated people. As Indonesians, we all feel badly about the impact caused by the fuel price hike but we absolutely have no control to prevent this price hike.

We should support our government instead because if it were to continue subsidizing fuel prices, it would make the rich richer and the poor poorer.

If you want to show that you love and care for this country, you should go study and help this country solve its problems. I hope the government can take necessary actions to prevent this from happening again in the future. Don't wait until it reaches a critical situation. DAVID
Jakarta

I think that's too much and quite dangerous because that could trigger a riot again in Jakarta since the people are economically stretched because of the recent fuel price hike.

Feule price rises are everywhere in the world including in first-world countries. People should be patient to bear this situation and the government should work extra hard to control this situation. WINTON HUANG
Jakarta

They burned tires and cars and flipped them over. They also defaced government property and held up traffic. This is a risky way to provide a model for other "dissatisfied groups" (which I wish not to specifically mention) or an effective and civilized way to get things done in this country.

Conduct peaceful demonstrations. Detain the idiots. I feel for the organizers of this thing who surely didn't have last night's Smackdown on their Tuesday morning wish list. I wish for them better control of attending participants the next time. YOYO
Bandung

Uneasy support seen for sharia June 24, p. 1

I am Javanese Muslim. I feel most Indonesians feel this way, we are all Indonesian, but family traditions come from our geographic location.

Sharia law does not reflect the views of my grandfather or great-grandfather. Indonesians are unique, as we come from many different islands, which are all unique. Let's be unified as Indonesians first and keep religion a personal choice. BUDI
Jember, East Java

Citizenship and its rights June 24, 6

Good article on freedom in your country. Here is how I perceived this as a foreigner. I was in your country the same time last year and noticed that the police are still very corrupt.

Indonesia (as stated) has a major corruption problem. If this is fixed at a local level then it will be better off for everyone. No foreign companies want to invest in a country with corruption.

The rights of the individual there is quite another story. When I was in Surabaya, the rights of people seemed to be quite well respected, that is for the rich.

The poor people I met did not get the same rights. They were treated terribly in the street and by people I was with. It shocked me.

The press, what can you say when corruption is rife in the community, free press is something that is still a dream there. If you want real free press, you need to have a government-funded radio and television broadcaster, free of government intervention and influence. We have such a broadcaster here, ABC radio and TV. Check it out.

This is just a view from a visitor and foreigner who has been in your country. ROD
Sydney

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.