It is deeply regrettable and even shameful that some members of the Public Order Agency decided to take the law into their own hands by throwing stones at the offices of the Communion of Churches in Indonesia (PGI).
Even if the culprits were from within the offices of the PGI, well disciplined officers would have apprehended the suspects and charged them in accordance with the applicable law.
As it turned out, no one with the PGI was guilty of any of the alleged offenses, but the Public Order officers meted out their 'justice' on innocent people. It is just as well no one was seriously injured or killed.
How could we, the public, have any confidence in these officers who are supposed to keep public order when they themselves commit acts of aggression that are contrary to the charter of their very existence!
PAUL E. RANTAU
Singapore
New LPG gas price -- Aug. 27, 4
It's not just the price of LPG itself that has increased, but also the price of the canister. In Bali, Pertamina has increased the cost of the 15-kilogram canister from around Rp 400,000 to 850,000 -- making it a large investment for someone who wants to switch from kerosene or electric.
I don't know why the government doesn't do something about this if they really want people to stop using kerosene. A lot of people here have gone back to using wood. So much for progress.
T. MARTIN
Denpasar
Deal with corruptors
Every day I read about corrupt people stealing huge sums of money. But when they get caught, they seem to only get small fines.
And there seem to be a few famous people in the country with huge sums of money but police can't prove that they stole it.
We need a new law. It works like this:
Anybody found guilty of anything who is sent to jail (especially for corruption) has their assets seized and assets in their wives' and children' names seized too.
The person or the family then have to prove these assets were gotten through honest means. For example, if they have a home and say they bought it using money from one of their businesses then they have to prove where the money came from to set the business up.
If they can't prove this after two years the assets are sold at an auction and the proceeds would go to police to catch more people. It is as simple as that. This has worked very well in dealing with drug dealers in Australia.
The law should also state that this includes all past convicts as well. This new law will reduce the amount of terrible corruption that is crippling this great country and help the government get some of its money back.
ROGER STEWART
Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara
