Forum: Arrest in Malaysia

Fri, 08/08/2008 10:24 AM  |  Reader's Forum

To the Indonesian government: it is your job to make the domestic economy better so no more of your people get illegally trafficked abroad to be prostitutes and pimped by non-Indonesians. Think more about your own people rather than about opportunities to corrupt more money!
ABIBA
Kuala Lumpur

Religion and freedom -- Aug. 6, p. 7

Please do not try to correct what is not wrong. As well as changing a grammatically correct sentence into one that is not, you have completely distorted the meaning of my letter and I demand a correction.

I wrote "Indonesia - and the world - has far too much religion." I did not write "Indonesia - and the world - have far too many religions."
RAFIQ MAHMOOD
Bogor, West Java

Note: Thank you for your correction. We apologize for misunderstanding.

-- Editors

An unfinished business -- Aug. 02, p. 6

Thank you for highlighting such an important perspective. True independence is always unfinished business, just like life (as you so correctly pointed out), liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

As An American, I can attest to the fact that working on freedom and independence is an ongoing affair. My country has been working on it for over 200 years and we still don't have it absolutely right.

You point out issues your country is contending with but you've only had 63 years! I commend you on your keen observations and your honest appeal for all of us to try to work together to make this whole "freedom and independence" thing work.
JUSTIN FREED
Jakarta

Saving endangered orangutans -- Aug. 5, p 18

Not only the precious orangutan, but there's also danger that we will lose forever the majestic Sumatran tiger. There's perhaps only 500 of these grand creatures remaining in the world today and many of these are in cramped zoo quarters.

It was commendable that Indonesia's Metro TV showed "live" several weeks ago the release of a Sumatran tiger breeding pair back into the wild. These animals will be tracked and monitored by satellite.

My father, the late Australian naturalist David Fleay, tried in vain soon after the second world war to capture a breeding pair of thylacine, also known as Tasmanian tigers. But it was too late.

Only a few of the animals remained in the wild bush of Tasmania, and now none survive. Extinct forever. We need many more "devotees" such as Jonathan Wootliff to ensure our fauna and flora survive along with our delicate planet. If "man" becomes endangered, then there'll be no hope left for anything.
STEPHEN J. FLEAY
Bandung

Faith in democracy -- July 31, p. 7

I agree with the article. One could not blame the people on the streets if they have their own reasons to prefer the government under the Soeharto regime. The conflict interests between the actors in our current government prohibit the establishment of real democracy in Indonesia.
AMAHL S. AZWAR
Jakarta

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