I must publicly give gratitude for the work of the staff at The Jakarta Post , at this point in time I find myself dependent on their good effort in revealing the important news about bird flu developments.
The situation in Makassar is highly unstable. In the last article, the head of the Makassar Health Agency praised God that no more people were admitted with symptoms. I very much agree with that.
I cannot help but wonder, if that really is the case and if the second test round will show that all first 17 admitted do in fact have the H5N1 virus. But if that is the case some among the 17 should get worse soon.
What was said about the first tests -- "the hospital had decided not to use them as an indicator or reference for the illness" -- is for me a mystery. Are they not treating the 17 with antivirals yet? And has there been a house to house door visit in the area were the 17 came from to see if more people there are sick without giving notice?
These are the questions I have been speculating about a great deal over the last 4-5 days. CIPRIAN PATER
Oslo, Norway
Getting a taste -- Nov. 14, p. 19
A longtime resident of Jakarta whose hometown is New York City, I could not resist trying the Bali Nusa Indah restaurant when I saw it along Ninth Avenue's Restaurant Row in Manhattan.
I can confirm that the cuisine is excellent, ample and original. The restaurant bill might well shock a customer who knows how much soto ayam or rendang costs in local eateries here, but it is not expensive by New York standards.
Nonetheless, it was good to read in your article titled "Getting a taste from home in the Big Apple," (The Jakarta Post, Nov. 14) about the simpler Minang Asli in Queens. I'll give it a try next time I go home. JAMES PENHA
Jakarta
Economic meltdown
SBY calls for countries "responsible" for the economic meltdown to give money to "innocent victim" Indonesia. Good idea. But if I were those other countries, I would be asking Indonesia to pay the World Bank and ADB and the myriad of aid agencies from such developed countries back the money lost over decades to corruption.
The World Bank and others publish data that Indonesia has some of the highest "leakage" rates of any recipient country. How much better off in funding "development projects" would this country be if officials didn't steal so much of the money on the way through. The old saying "charity begins at home" seems apt here. ANDREW KEITH
Jakarta.
Bank rumor case -- Nov. 17, p. 1
Obviously the critics of Kalla are forgetting that we can't compare Indonesia to small countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia.
Can they guarantee 100 percent, with all their savings, that full protection of bank deposit will not cause bank runs in Indonesia? Can they guarantee anything for that matter? This 100 percent guarantee started in Ireland which faced its own housing problem back in summer due to rampant real estate speculation.
Talking about moral hazard here. Even UK criticized that policy for covering only Irish banks and not UK banks with branches in Ireland. Again Ireland is a small country with a population of less than 10 million.
Only after English people started moving their deposits to Irish banks did the UK start their own 100 percent deposit guarantee. The UK and German governments criticized the Irish policy as being self-serving and against the spirit of EU cooperation. Instead of promoting a more productive economy, Ireland chose to protect its greedy short-term-minded speculators. Are we just supposed to follow everyone blindly? JOSH
Jakarta
Editorial: Raiding smokers -- Nov. 15, p. 6
I do not see any problem with NGOs helping. The government/people save money and the NGOs function is quite simple and adequate. MARCUS Jakarta
Yes, smoking is bad. But car fumes are equally as bad, if not worse. I am a smoker and can appreciate it that none smokers find this so-called habit not nice, but it is an addiction I can assure you.
Governments have enjoyed the tax benefits for years. They still are, enabling the improvements of roads among other things. Therefore more cars, more fumes, more deaths. Morality has many faces, and fair play does not seem to be one of them. JOHN STAFFORD
Jakarta
Golden lessons from Macau -- Nov. 16, p. 13
Macau is successful as a tourist destination. No doubt, the old town of Batavia is certainly as romantic and attractive because Jakarta is very rich with historical old sites and buildings.
We must lovingly maintain this old area and develop it into a heritage center where tourists can walk leisurely from one site to another from Town Hall, Central Station, Puppet Museum, Sunda Kelapa Harbor all the way to the old Portuguese Church, Fish Market and many more sites.
Fortunately, these sites are within walking distance of each other. Tourists can enjoy the history of Dutch sailors who braved the very long journey through dangerous oceans to discover the very rich Nederlandsch Oost Indie (the word "Indonesia" was not known at that time).
All these sites have been covered in detail by Adolf Heuken SJ in his book titled Historical Sites of Batavia, which is considered as one of the most comprehensive resources on old Batavia.
For this purpose, we need to make the Old Town of Jakarta a cultural area. It must be vehicle-free, and only for pedestrians and bikes. ROBBY KAWARE
Jakarta
Letter: Visa-on-arrival service -- Nov. 17, p. 7
Traveling a lot and coming to Bali twice a year, I can say that Ngurah Rai is not a bad place to get through immigration at all.
I never waited "for hours" and yes, given the circumstances, immigration is efficient and helps people if they do not understand procedures.
Indeed compare this to time consuming procedures in countries complaining, I consider remarks about Bali impolite and probably worse. RIC
Amsterdam
'Reduce waste' -- Nov. 17, p. 4
Solid waste management in Jakarta is very critical now. I agreed that 3R (reduce, reuse and recycle) is a good concept of waste minimization, but it will take a lot of time to penetrate into the people's mind as well as lead to change their behavior.
The government must make practical decisions based on the reality of solid waste management in Jakarta. It will take time for community composting to lead to actual reduction of waste. Intermediate treatment of waste for reducing its amount is essential to address the current solid waste management issue immediately. TOSH
Jakarta
Most of Jakarta's garbage consists of organic, biodegradable waste. With coordinated efforts to develop neighborhood composting, this would already greatly reduce the volume of waste that has to be transported at great cost (fuel, pollution, traffic) to the landfill. MARC
Jakarta
