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Your letters: Fame for the wrong reasons
The Oscar nomination of The Act of Killing means Indonesia is about to gain press coverage for all the wrong reasons
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T
he Oscar nomination of The Act of Killing means Indonesia is about to gain press coverage for all the wrong reasons.
When someone makes a movie about Northern Ireland, or the Vietnam War or rabbit proof fences no one in these countries whines that foreigners are about to find out the ugly truth about these countries.
No Italian watched Gomorrah and complained that foreigners always focused on crime and ignored their delicious cheeses and meats.
Anyone of any intelligence who has any interest in geopolitics is fully aware of Indonesia's impressive post-independence history of violence in Aceh, Papua, Timor Leste and across the whole country.
What it is important to remember' and no Indonesian seems capable of this ' is that armies and governments do not kill people. The TNI never raped anyone.
What goes on in the cabinet room stays in the cabinet room.
Atrocities are committed by individuals acting alone or in concert. Having established that these acts were committed by people and not by institutions it is reasonably to ask who.
Having spoken with many 'rich' and privileged Indonesians and the children of such, I know that not all Indonesians are corrupt.
Everyone's own grandfather was the one good man who worked hard all his life, never taking nor giving a bribe.
Everyone's father was the 'one good man' who struggled for everything he had. Everyone is a liar.
Bagon Hed
Jakarta
