Editorial
Front Page - Friday, February 12, 2010
Under Analysis
Laws of human existence
Mark Levison
When I told my fellow lawyers I was going to be vacationing in Southeast Asia and Bali, Indonesia, I saw fear on some of their faces. After all, Indonesia is the home of more Muslims than any other country in the world, although Bali is mostly Hindu. In 2002, bombs killed about 175 tourists in Bali. Several members of a violent Islamic group were convicted of the bombings and two were executed. The Balinese people were aghast at violence on their gentle island.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, there’s been more reluctance on the part of Americans to travel, particularly to third-world countries. Very frequently when people hear the places I’ve chosen to visit, they tell me, “I wouldn’t go there; they don’t like Americans.” My observation is the people that say that don’t travel much. As I have traveled throughout the world, whether on legal business or otherwise, I always receive a warm reaction when I say I am American – and I’ve never hid that fact. It helps if you are anticipating a warm greeting, as opposed to a cold one. Bali, Burma, Thailand and even Cambodia, where I recently traveled, were no different. In fact, what I have found is the more “primitive” a country, the more friendly its people. I don’t know what it is about people who don’t have a lot of things that makes them so friendly. Maybe those of us who have lots of things are less friendly because we’re afraid someone will take them away from us.
Certainly there are isolated incidents of violence against visitors, including Americans; however, random crime throughout most of the rest of the world is infinitesimal compared to crime here at home.
There are, of course, miscreants in every country. Pol Pot and his fanatic Khmer Rouge proved that in Cambodia. When leaders have absolute power, there tends to be no rule of law. When there is no rule of law, the worst traits in people are exposed. I will not forget my visit to one of his “prisons.”
Despite the unforgiving acts of the Khmer Rouge, generally, the Cambodians are as gentle, open and friendly a people as I have met anywhere. In fact, the overriding impression from my recent trip was that for the most part, people are a lot friendlier in Asia, and things are running a lot smoother there than here. As I walked through the streets of Balinese and Southeast Asian cities, there was never a time that I felt uncomfortable about security. I’m a big believer in America and our legal system, but the fact is its more dangerous here than most other places.
Another fact is that the American way is usually, but not always, the better way. While I was gone, I took 12 flights, and every one of them was on time, or early, until I had to fly from Chicago to St. Louis. Flight attendants on the Asian airlines are young, friendly and not hard on your eyes, a throwback to the ’50s, when American “stewardesses” had different attitudes and physical requirements than American flight attendants have today. That change may be good, or it may be bad, but the fact is the Asian flight attendants are not just pleasant, they are very much into customer service. The attendants often offer a courteous bow of thanks to the passengers when they leave the plane. Strangest of all, there are meals on every one of their on-time flights. When I stepped off of a Thai International flight in Tokyo, I was given an orchid.
The airports in Asia are efficient, clean and beautiful. In the Bali airport, when one is visiting a urinal, he is watching fish swimming in a tank embedded in the wall.
After being spoiled by the service and general atmosphere in Asia, it was a shock to be subjected to American airlines. Planes were stacked up and late at O’Hare, despite reasonably good weather. The Chicago bathrooms were small and dirty, and the personnel at the check-in counters were surly. It is disappointing.
However, when it comes right down to it, it’s not the things that we do better or worse that are ultimately important; it’s the things that we do virtually the same. It is in our similarities that we can find the threads that bring us together. As fate would have it, the last hotel I stayed in before heading home was the headquarters of the Bali Japan Lawyers Club. I saw its sign outside my hotel (written in English), so I inquired about the Club.
It turns out, the owner of the hotel is a Balinese lawyer and club secretary. Mr. Cokorda Oka Yudhana and I exchanged cards. His lists him as “ADVOKATE.” He explained to me that there were many Japanese nationals in Bali who, from time to time, need legal help.
When I returned to my office, my secretary had already laid an e-mail on my desk that read, in part:
“Dear Sir: How are you? I hope you can enjoy your holiday in Bali. By the way, let me introduce myself to you. My name is Sudiarta. People prefer calling me ‘Sudi’. I am 44 years old ... Now I am a leader of Bali Japan Lawyers Club is a new law office which was established by six Advokates who speak Japanese very well. I got your name card from Mr. Oka, one of Bali Japan Lawyers Club. Of course we need a partner like you, to introduce my law office overseas…. If you have a chance to go to Denpasar, it’s my plasure if you would like to visit me and discussing about the law n Indonesia. If you want to know me in datail, please check me at my web [sic].”
The message made me smile, and reaffirmed that the basic human characteristics of peoples of different countries are pretty much the same. We all love our families, we all want to be happy and it feels good for all of us to smile and laugh, and as lawyers ,we all appreciate more business. I wrote Suidarata’s name in my contacts book and asked my paralegal to find out which of his clients had US offices.
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