Australia reveals its ugly side
The week's news at a glance.
Indonesia
Dewi Anggraeni
The Jakarta Post
Australians have never respected Indonesians, said Dewi Anggraeni in The Jakarta Post, and now their contempt is finally on public display. The whole country, it seems, has risen up in indignation over the sentencing of Schapelle Corby, a 27-year-old Australian woman, to 20 years in an Indonesian prison. Corby was caught smuggling nine pounds of marijuana into Bali, and her sentence is actually unremarkable. If she were American or British, there would have been no huge outcry. But Australians have always viewed Indonesia as a kind of servant country, filled with compliant brown people. To sentence a pretty Australian woman to prison—well, it’s nothing less than “gross impudence.” Australian newspapers are now full of “vitriolic attacks” on the Indonesian legal system. Every talk show airs appalled rants about Indonesia’s barbarity. The more “immature and infantile” Australians have actually contacted Indonesian charities, demanding back the money they donated to tsunami victims. Australians are obviously unaware that our justice system is now quite modern, and “that an increasing number of Indonesians are as educated, if not more educated, than they are.” But we certainly learned something this week: Deep down, Australians still consider us “inferior.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
'The House under GOP rule has become a hostile workplace'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
The Shohei Ohtani gambling scandal is about more than bad bets
In The Spotlight The firestorm surrounding one of baseball's biggest stars threatens to upend a generational legacy and professional sports at large
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Feds raid Diddy homes in alleged sex trafficking case
Speed Read Homeland Security raided the properties of hip hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published