R

eferring to your articles on the Ubud cremation dated May 14 and 15, I am perplexed by your reference to the deceased as 'the son of the late king of Ubud'.

Factually speaking, there is no such thing as 'the king of Ubud' or, for that matter, a kingdom of Ubud. As such, neither is there an 'Ubud royal family' as you so often referred to.

Ubud is and always was since time immemorial, a subdistrict (kecamatan or kepunggawaan in the olden days) of the present-day kabupaten, formerly the kingdom, of Gianyar. If you are looking for royalty, the king is in Gianyar and definitely not in Ubud. Should you doubt this fact, all you have to do is open any bona fide history book on Bali and you will get the confirmation.

I believe it is important for you as a major newspaper to get all your facts, even the smallest ones, right as otherwise you will be seen by your readers as disseminating untruths.

In the media world there is no faster way down the tube than be seen as producing shoddy or misleading news.

Silvia Setiawan
Jakarta