Category Archives: Guys

Is Gayus the Most Stupid Criminal in Indonesia?

By misterjames | Published: November 17, 2010

Tears begin to well up

I’ve written about Gayus Tambunan before.   Last time he tried to run from the law, he was discovered with his wife and kids eating at a popular Singapore food court.  Not the most secretive of locations, but you could almost excuse him for feeling safe in another country (and one which welcomes corruptors).

Breaks down in the court room

Since that time he’s managed to keep himself pretty much out of the headlines.  He was even able to enjoy the jailhouse privileges which prisoners with access to money can buy.  One of those privileges is being able to come and go as one chooses.  It is reported that Gayus paid the warder and other guards a total of about $US40,000 per month for this.  Considering that a prisoner with the funds can fully redecorate his or her cell, buy extra room, flat screen tv, refridgerator, install cable and internet services, bring in chefs, girls, whatever – you would have to think that it would need to be a particularly important meeting for you to leave the prison and risk being spotted by a member of the public.  Having taken the risk, wouldn’t you try to avoid public places where popular events are being held, where you know there will be journalists and cameramen?

Incognito

Gayus was seen attending an international tennis tournament in Bali by a ticket steward who quickly tipped off some reporters.  Wouldn’t you think that a man who had the cash to pay a $40,000 bribe could also afford a better disguise than that obvious wig.  To my mind, it’s not just that the wig doesn’t hide his identifying features, the fact is this wig is so strange that it actually attracts attention to the person wearing it.  Putting that wig on is like wearing a sign saying ‘look at how weird I look!’

I confess that I’m confused.  Is Gayus so contemptuous of the Indonesian legal system that he actually wanted to be seen doing this?  Otherwise, is he such a tennis tragic that he really had to attend that match live?  The only alternative is that he is so arrogant and foolish that he thinks he can disregard the legal system by buying his way in and out of wherever he chooses.

Well, it’s true that until now he HAS been able to buy his way.  But the public indignation has shone the spotlight on him now.  He will have to do better than $40,000 in future.

This will definitely make life a little less comfortable for wealthy prisoners.  In a way, it’s sad that prisoners who were accustomed to a higher living standard than their fellow inmates will find it harder to provide themselves with minor comforts.  But the truely sad thing about this is that Indonesians can no longer trust their prison system to protect them from convicted criminals.  If prisoners can come and go as they want, there are only two solutions.  Either the prison system is completely overhauled and measures put in place to ensure these regular irregularities stop, or a different form of punishment will be developed, such as increased use of corporal or capital punishment.

Should Gayus have another opportunity to leave his prison cell, here are some disguise suggestions:

The many faces of Gayus

In an attempt to regain lost popularity, SBY has adopted the ‘Gayus Style’:

SBY goes Gayus

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Indonesia’s ‘Black Dutch’

By misterjames | Published: October 19, 2010

Jan Kooi

Jakarta’s African residents are easy to spot, they’re taller and (of course) much darker than everyone else.  There’s quite a large community, mostly in Sabang and adjacent areas of Central Jakarta.  Most of them are from Nigeria and associated with the oil industry.  They suffer more than their share of prejudice from the locals, who associate them with the drug trade.

I was surprised to learn that the Nigerians are not the first Africans to settle in Indonesia.  This article from Radio Netherlands is about the descendents of about 3,000 men of the Ashanti tribe (from modern day Ghana) who were enlisted by the Dutch to secure their hold on the East Indies.  The Dutch had a continual manpower problem due to disease and failure to adapt to the heat and humidity.  The Ashanti had a reputation for ferocity, it took the British four wars to subdue them.  So the 3,000 recruited by the Dutch must have been a useful addition to their colonial forces.

Of course, the Dutch colonials also recruited soldiers from closer to home, notably from Ambon.  As the Ambonese and other Eastern Islanders have darker skin colour than people in the Western Islands of Bali, Java and Sumatra, it’s likely that the local population did not distinguish them from the African soldiers.  This is perhaps the reason why the African connection is not well known.  Many of the descendents of both the Africans and the Ambonese left Indonesia in the 1950’s, after independence, as they held Dutch citizenship and faced discrimination from the new government.

Jan Kooi, the fine soldier pictured above, returned to his African homeland after he was discharged.  He served with distinction in the Aceh war and was wounded while saving the life of his senior officer.  This brief biography states that he suffered 10 bullet wounds in that action, however I wonder if it was actually 10 buckshot wounds – painful, unpleasant and dangerous, but not as likely to be fatal as 10 separate bullet wounds.  Aceh was never fully pacified by the Dutch, but they might have even lost the war to the Acehnese if it were not for men such as Jan Kooi.  Although my sympathies lie with the Acehnese, at least the Ashanti helped the war to finish earlier than it might, so perhaps some lives were saved because of that.

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Sex and Government Agencies

By misterjames | Published: September 29, 2010

Three stories came to my attention today.  Each one seems to illustrate a slightly different facet of how the Indonesian bureaucracy is trying to come to terms with the sexual revolution that is raging through the country.  The government sector shows an unhealthy willingness to regulate this part of people’s lives. 

First, we have the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, which has been given the task of blocking all internet porn sites.  They claim to have blocked 90% of all porn sites from Indonesia servers, but some of the most popular ones are still accessible.  Now it seems they intend to offer some kind of reward for people notifying them of porn sites which they haven’t blocked yet.  It all sounds a bit like King Canute to me.  There’s too much money in porn, and Indonesia is too big a market for those dealing in porn to give up so easily.  It might be more effective if they gave some ground and just tried to control the worst offenders, which seems to work reasonably well in the West.  Anyhow, there is a comment on that story which sums up the craziness of it:

So lets get this straight, Porn is illegal in Indonesia. Ministry of Communications is blocking all or at least 90% of porn sites on the Internet but since it is failing he now wants people to actively look for porn on the web and win a prize.  So he wants kids and of course adults, enticed by the prize, to break the law by looking for porn and then turn themselves in?  So now there is a competition to look for porn on the web…. sort of defeats the whole point doesn’t it? -Enakajah

Next, we have a 26 year old taekwando teacher who had sex with her 15 year old female student.  As so often happens, the victim is punished.  The girl was sent to an institution for ’sexual orientation’ classes.  Meanwhile, the paedophile teacher gets let off the hook.  Nothing surprising about that.  The twist is, the teacher tracks the girl down and breaks her out of protective custody.  I don’t think the prison break would have been as spectacular as I’d like to imagine it.  It probably involved less use of taekwando skills and more of money being passed to a few strategically identified guards.  Now the officials are nonplussed, they are not sure what to do about the teacher’s actions, whether they can prosecute her for it.  Well, I have a suggestion – that they throw her in jail for interfering with a minor and abusing her position of trust.  Of course that won’t happen as Indonesia doesn’t seem to have an age of consent, or at least it isn’t applied.  Especially not in the case of people who call themselves imams and want to interfere with 12 year olds.

Finally, some common sense as the government overturned a judgement by a court in the Sumatran province of Jambi that would force teenage school girls to undertake a virginity test.  What would posess lawmakers to come up with such an idea?  Do they have no empathy, or do they take some smutty delight in such evil?  Would they want to deny an education to girls who had been abused at home? 

A similar thing happened in Jakarta when it became public that street children are often victims of sexual abuse.  The police were proposing to round them all up and have them examined for abuse.  Fortunately that scheme was eventually abandoned too.

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Updates on Recent Stories

By aboutindo | Published: July 11, 2010

For those who follow this blog but don’t keep a close eye on Indonesian news, I thought now would be a good time to update you on developments concerning some of the more popular stories. 

Starting with the most recent:

Mental illness

In my second story concerning the practice of pasung, or chaining of the mentally ill, I found a clip which told about a local doctor, Suryani, who is working on this problem in Bali, applying modern medical techniques and showing miraculous results.   The sad thing was that the local government had cut funding to this project, putting a question mark over its continuation and bringing those patients who could not afford to pay for the medication the fear that they will return to their psychotic state.

I have since heard a rumour that the reason the funding was withdrawn was political jealousy.  Dr Suryani comes from an influential Balinese family and her detractors say she is conducting her work under her own name and not giving the government the credit for its funding.  They also imply that because she is seriously rich, she should pay for the treatment from her own pocket! 

Personally, I think people should put political issues behind them and consider the victims.  Even if she is capable of funding the entire clinic from her own resources, public health is a responsibility which the government has taken upon itself.  The potential cost to Bali’s economy if tourists shunned the island because of their handling of this issue is far greater than the cost of funding the clinic.  Government funds need to be allocated according to where they can do the most good.  Finally, I think it’s something to be encouraged when a member of the elite rolls up their sleeves and does some practical work, something Indonesia’s elite are not famous for.

Dr Suryani has a website for her institute if you would like more information about her work.  You can donate towards her work if you feel inclined to do so.

Tempo’s ‘Sold Out’ Edition

The publishers of Tempo ran a second edition of the magazine which was sold out.  The police are saying they were not involved in buying up the first edition and that it was just a publicity stunt on Tempo’s part.  Members of the police force are now taking a different approach.  They are suing Tempo for defamation in comparing them to pigs.  They are deeply offended because pigs are supposedly haram to devout Muslims.  I may be out of line here, but it has always been my understanding that it is the eating of pigs which is haram, not the pigs themselves.  So perhaps they are being a little precious in being offended on religious grounds.  Seldom mentioned is the fact that unbelievers in Islam are haram, yet I doubt any police general would shun his Balinese colleague on that basis.  More to the point, it is also haram to steal and it is also haram to use one’s position in a corrupt manner.

Perhaps the police would suffer less ridicule and criticism if concentrated on solving corruption within their ranks and got on with actual policing.  It is my feeling that the people respond well when they see their police giving a good example.

Peterporn

At this moment, Nazriel (Ariel) Irham is still being held in custody while Luna Maya and Cut Tari are free.  The prosecutor is obviously trying to avoid provoking the public’s sympathy.  All three have undergone physical examinations to check whether their body shapes match the images in the videos.  Intimate measurements were taken, including those of Ariel’s genitals. 

Meanwhile, police have announced they are ‘about’ to arrest eight suspects for actually uploading the videos.  That was a few days ago, I haven’t heard anything about that so far.

Smoking Baby

CNN have sent a camera crew out to Sumatra to verify that, yes, the story is true.  Although somehow they managed to misspell his name and the American public now know him as ‘Aldi’.   I deeply suspect this whole fuss is a beat-up by the big US tobacco companies to disparage Indonesia in the current trade dispute.  The US is banning flavoured cigarettes, including the kreteks which Indonesia exports.  However, somehow they don’t include the menthol cigarettes which the US manufacturers make in their definition of ‘flavoured’.  Self interest creates double standards.

This Site

There are now two people working on Aboutindo.  Neither of us full time yet :)   You might have noticed the marked improvement in quality. 

We are planning to make some big changes soon, including self hosting.   I started a bit less than six months ago, but it seems like only three.  Thanks for your support and comments.

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Peterporn: Lots of Threats, No Action So Far

By aboutindo | Published: June 24, 2010

Luna Maya was shocked

After 12 hours, I’m still waiting to find out whether the police have acted on their promise to arrest Luna Maya and Cut Tari rather than defend their homes or arrest those making threats against their lives.

If you’ve been following the story, you’ll know that there was a small demonstration of 1,000 (pitifully low turnout by Indonesian standards) members of the ultra right Islamic Defenders Front.  Despite their small size, they manage to grab a lot of media attention because of their menacing costumes and behaviour.   The press were rewarded when they threatened to seek out the homes of the two female celebrities and administer rough justice.

As often happens the police have taken what they see as the easiest way out.  Instead of mounting an operation against the ringleaders of the demonstration and the people who made the threats, they have announced their intention to arrest the entertainers.  This is not good policing, firstly because they have no basis to charge them, secondly because it sends a signal that anyone can make threats against another human without risk of punishment.  How would Fadilah Karimah feel if the tables were turned on her?  How if  someone in the media decided to ridicule her?  (please, someone?).

In fact, I believe it’s more than just a matter of the police preparing an operation and rounding up the ringleaders.  There is a force within the Jakarta elite which sponsors and protects this organisation.  The Front truely is a front, controlled by a puppet master.  There would be consequences if the police took them on.  But public pressure is building for the police to ‘do something’.  So they have done the least they think they can do, which is to threaten the powerless.  Hopefully it will all blow over before they are forced to act on their threat.

The President’s hands are tied since his Information Minister made a huge gaffe comparing the celebrities with Jesus crucified.  He is somewhat hampered by his reliance on some Islamic parties within his coalition government.  So far he has threatened to introduce some form of internet filtering, but nothing certain yet.  As he will not be eligible for re-election, it’s possible that he will not be able to carry through with that anyhow.

There is still no certainty about what the people of Indonesia think about all of this.  Judging from internet responses, the youth are firmly in support of the celebrities.  The only thing that’s sure is that there is a huge culture war building in Indonesia.

Cut Tari - Cultural Warrior

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Peterporn Scandal Development: Ariel Arrested

By aboutindo | Published: June 22, 2010

Police have decided to arrest Nazril ‘Ariel’ Irham for his part in the so-called Peterporn Scandal.  Under the recent anti-pornography laws, he is facing anything from 6 months to 9 years in jail and/or $US660,000 fine.  They are holding him for 24 hours  pending charges.  There is no word on whether they intend to charge his co-stars Luna Maya and Cut Tari.  I think they would have trouble proving that the girls ‘made’ the pornographic videos, it seems clear that it was all Ariel’s doing.  But it also seems that adultery is still a criminal offense in Indonesia, so there is some scuttlebut that Cut Tari could be prosecuted for that, but I think it’s unlikely because that law has become archaic through lack of use.

The big unanswered question is: What about the pornography distributors?  The police have known for a week the IP addresses and the location where the porn was uploaded.  But so far there is no news of any raids.  Surely the distributors of the porn are more worthy of prison than someone who simply made the vids for his personal use (however sleazy he is)? 

Well, there are two elements which probably make those distributors a bit too big for the police to manage.  Firstly, the people running the blackmail operation are said to be too closely connected to the ‘Mr Big’ of Indonesia’s underworld.  See?  He’s so big I don’t want to use his name.  I’ll tell you his name if you phone me.  Anyhow, why do you think the Mr Bigs in your city never get arrested?  Same reason why this one never will.  Anyhow, the rumours are that the blackmailers hit more than 30 female celebrities for 10 billion rp each (that’s $US1million, if I’m not mistaken).  All of them paid up except Luna and Cut.  Although there are a lot of guys hoping that some others will also refuse to pay when Mr Big comes back for a second helping.

The second reason the police will not go after the blackmailers is that some say the release of the videos was timed to distract attention from another scandal which was raging at the time.  It implicated a certain well known businessman in a corrupt undertaking.  He’s not well loved, but he has connections.

Hysteria concerning the affair has gone as high as the President’s Office.  On the weekend, SBY stated his concerns about the effect of internet porn on the population.  To some extent I have to agree with him, there is a need to protect the young from corrupting influences.  But I think it’s more a matter for parents and the owners of internet cafes to take responsibility for what people are viewing.

As expected, the extreme right wing fundamentalists have jumped on the issue.  They see it as an opportunity to introduce sharia law throughout the country.  Fortunately they make it sound so unpalateable that it’s unlikely that they will have much influence in this.  They are calling for married adulterers to be stoned to death (if that happened, half the population of Jakarta would be executed and the parliament building would be empty). 

From Kompas:

Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia coordinator Fadilah Karimah, 32, said she would like to see adulterers buried up to their necks in public places and pelted with stones until dead.

“Those people who have sex before marriage should be caned with a stick 100 times in public. Adulterers should be half-buried and stoned to death,” she told AFP at the rally.

“This is appropriate punishment as what they did was dirty, shameful and despicable. They should be prepared for such a punishment if they want to earn a place in heaven.”

“The more people who see it the better.”

I sometimes wonder what goes on in the minds of people such as Fadilah.  But then I realise that I wouldn’t want to know.

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Peterporn Sex Scandal

By aboutindo | Published: June 12, 2010

Indonesia has gone one step beyond in matters to do with sex scandals.  Sure, the West has plenty of variety.  We’ve had Paris Hilton (and many other) sex tapes, upskirts getting out of cars, nipple flashes, transparent clothing, costume malfunctions, girls kissing girls and I don’t know what else.  But Indonesia’s Peterporn scandal promises no less than 32 high resolution porn videos, each one featuring one of its most popular singers and in many cases co-starring female celebrities.

Nazril ‘Ariel’ Irham with his band Peterpan has for many years, until the past few, dominated the Indonesian pop music scene.  Here’s a taste of his music, one of his biggest hits, it’s actually not bad listening:

YouTube Preview Image

Anyhow, over the years of dominating the music charts, he had many opportunities to meet beautiful girls.  That’s not unusual for someone in the music industry, but it seems that he has a fetish for recording his adventures on video. 

His story is that someone stole the laptop on which he stored his videos.  The thieves tried to blackmail him and are now carrying out their threats to release the videos to the public.  The first video they released was one starring him and his latest girlfriend Luna Maya, a model, film and sinetron (soapy) actress and TV compare.  Here she is wearing a jilbab:

Looks innocent, doesn’t she?  The two are actually under contract with Unilever to feature in Lux soap commercials.  If you use your imagination, you might get an idea what the porn video might look like:

YouTube Preview Image

Or maybe not.  Some Indonesians find this commercial racy enough.  So you can imagine what a fuss the release of the sex tape caused.  Of course, Indonesia is not new to porn.  There used to be a big film industry based on soft core porn, but it died a gradual death as video piracy flourished (it still does).  It has also been replaced with the internet, of course.  Anyone with a dollar can spend a few hours in an internet cafe (warnet, or warung internet) and watch whatever they fancy.  Unlike in China, there are no restrictions on what you can watch on the internet.  It seems most people are watching Ariel and Luna.

And they’re also watching Ariel and Cut Tari.  Yes, just a day after the release of the first sex vid, there came a second one.  It’s well known that Cut Tari, a model and sinetron actress, is a former girlfriend of Ariel.  Here’s a pic of her:

She looks even more lovely in real life.  Anyhow, she claims the girl in the second porno vid is someone who looks like her.  I’m not so sure, there aren’t many girls who look as gorgeous as she does. But her husband is supporting her denial.  Yes, husband of seven years.

As expected, the police have become involved.  The Surabaya police became so excited, they took matters into their own hands (so to speak):

YouTube Preview Image

In the clip, you can see them raiding a school and an internet cafe in search of porn.  I’m not sure what they’re trying to achieve from that, seems a bit sleazy to me.

Anyhow, the real police are on to it.  Ariel and Luna have been called in for questioning.  Although they haven’t fronted the police station yet, there was one group that received some free publicity:

That’s right, citizens for the dissolution of the counterterrorism squad.  They were protesting at the police station while the press was waiting for Ariel and Luna to show up.  What’s wrong with those people?  I mean, really.  Don’t imagine that those few protesters in any way represent the mainstream opinion of Indonesia people.  Most of them are fed up with fanatics like that.  The counterterrrorism squad have had such huge success their methods should be studied by the Western intelligence agencies.

Latest word is the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has identified the IP addresses of the first uploaders of the porn vids.  I guess those people can expect to be raided shortly.

So as things stand, we have a possible collection of up to 32 sex vids.  It is said that they feature as many as seven female celebrities, so up to five ladies are about to suffer the consequences of a racy past.  We don’t know if Ariel and Luna will be charged for making porn under the new anti pornography laws.  And the public is speculating on whether Cut Tari is in the second video or not.  We don’t know if this whole affair will reignite Ariel’s waning career. But one thing’s for sure, the newest word in the Indonesian language is ‘peterporn’ and it’s going to be hogging the headlines for a long while to come.

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Indonesian Soldier Shows His Feminine Side

By aboutindo | Published: June 1, 2010

The Indonesian Army (TNI) is best known for its ferocity.  Hardened by counter-guerilla warfare in the jungles of Aceh and the highlands of Timor, few people dare to approach a soldier in the street unless they already have a personal relationship.  Because crossing their path can only mean trouble.

But this soldier is doing his bit to make the TNI more approachable.  He’s displaying a side of Indonesian soldiery that the public rarely sees.

All the same, I prefer to leave it to his comrades to sledge him for wearing girly panties.  Ladies knickers or not, he’s still just as dangerous.

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Indonesian Hero: Mamat Gayo

By aboutindo | Published: June 1, 2010
YouTube Preview Image

If you ever thought the world was against you, or you don’t have the advantages that other people have, you should think about Pak Gayo.  He’s got more spirit than you and me and then some. 

I’ve taken the liberty of having the essay attached to the youtube clip translated because I like this story and there isn’t much information available about him yet.  I’m posting a paragraph in Indonesian and its translation followed by another Indonesian paragraph and so on to help you learn some words if you’re interested in that:

Sosoknya tidak lagi muda. Pun fisiknya tidak seperti orang kebanyakan yang memiliki kedua kaki dan tangan yang sempurna. Pria kelahiran Aceh 68 tahun silam ini kesehariannya berada di pertigaan Jalan Suci, tepatnya Jalan Raya Bogor KM.24 persis di samping Pool Bus Mayasari Bakti. Sekilas saya tidak menyadari keberadaannya, tetapi apa yang dilakukannya membuat saya simpati dan angkat topi. Dengan kondisi fisiknya yang kurang sempurna, ternyata bapak itu bertugas mengatur arus kendaraan di jalan tersebut yang tergolong cukup padat. Hal ini mendorong saya ingin lebih jauh mengenalnya.

He’s not young, nor does he have perfect arms and legs like most people.  This man was born in Aceh 68 years ago.  He usually spends his mornings and afternoons at the corner of Jalan Suci and Jalan Raya Bogor, at the 24km mark, to be precise.  It’s close to the Mayasari Bhakti bus depot.  I didn’t notice him at first.  But seeing what he does fills me with sympathy and admiration.  Despite his serious disabilities he is able to control the traffic at a busy intersection.  Knowing this made me want to learn more about the man.

 
Mamat Gayo. Begitu nama yang tersemat dekat kantong sebelah kanan baju kepolisiannya. Sudah lebih dari 20 tahun bapak Mamat Gayo menjadi Pembantu Polisi (Banpol). Awalnya pak Mamat adalah Polisi Cepek namun atas kerja kerasnya dan simpati dari kepolisian, akhirnya pak Mamat diangkat menjadi Banpol. Saat ini Pak Mamat menjabat Komandan Banpol dengan empat orang anak buah. Dengan keberadaannya, arus kendaraan menjadi lebih tertib dan dapat membantu oranglain yang kesulitan menyeberang.

 ‘Mamat Gayo’ is the name on the tag attached to his police uniform.  He has been a member of Banpol for 20 years (Pembantu Polisi – civilian police force, trained to assist the police in problems within their neighbourhood).  At first, Mamat Gayo was a ‘Polisi Cepek’ (cepek = 100 rupiah), these are people who take it upon themselves to help the flow of traffic by assisting drivers to make turns, merge etc. in exchange for a tip.  In the old days the tip was 100rp, but thanks to inflation they now expect 1,000rp.  Anyhow, the local police department noticed his diligence and appointed him despite his disabilities.  He is now the commander of his neighbourhood Banpol and has four subordinates.  The local police commandant acknowledges his skills in managing traffic and helping people who have difficulties in crossing the busy street.

 
Menurut penuturan anak buahnya, pak Mamat adalah seorang pekerja keras dan peduli lingkungan sekitar. Dalam hal kreatifitas pak Mamat mampu membetulkan beberapa barang elektronik dan membuat beberapa perlengkapan isi rumah kontrakkannya dari kayu. Kaditlantas Ciracas yang juga atasannya berpendapat bahwa pak Mamat adalah orang yang jujur dan bertanggung jawab atas pekerjaannya. Dalam kehidupan bermasyarakat, pak Mamat cukup dihormati. Dengan keadaannya, pak Mamat tidak ingin menggantungkan hidupnya kepada orang lain, justru pak Mamat mampu menghidupi seorang istri dan menempatkan anaknya di perguruan tinggi, walau pada akhirnya kekurangan biaya dan harus merelakan anaknya putus dari bangku kuliah. Pak Mamat bertugas pada pagi dan sore hari yaitu pada pukul 07.30 sampai 08.30 dan pukul 15.30 sampai 16.30 WIB.

According to one of his subordinates, Pak Mamat is hard working and cares for his neighbourhood.  He is also good at fixing electronic appliances and he also made most of his own wooden furniture for his house.  His commanding officer, the Kadilantas (Kepala Directorat Lalu-lintas = Director in Chief of Traffic) for the region of Ciracas (a suburb of Bogor, near Jakarta) commends him as honest, responsible and loyal.  Despite his disabilities, Pak Mamat doesn’t rely on other people.  Through his work and odd jobs, he finances his household (he has a wife) and was even able to send his son to college, although the son had to drop out eventually as the cost was too much.  Pak Mamat is on duty at his post in the morning (7:30am to 8:30am) and the afternoon (3:30pm to 4:30pm) WIB (Waktu Indonesia bagian Barat = West Indonesian time zone).

Dalam menjalankan tugasnya sebagai Banpol, pak Mamat mengalami suka dan duka, banyak dari perilaku pengemudi yang bertindak seenaknya dalam berkendaraan. Pak Mamat selalu menanamkan kedisiplinan dan kesopanan dalam bekerja. Alasannya menjadi Banpol selain untuk menghidupi keluarganya pak Mamat juga merasa senang membantu masyarakat yang berkendaraan. Tidaklah besar pendapat sebagai seorang Banpol tetapi menjadi orang yang dapat membantu dan dibutuhkan menjadi kepuasan tersendiri baginya.

Pak Mamat has had good and bad experiences in doing his Banpol duties.  Many drivers and motorcycle riders are careless.  He tries to promote discipline and respect.  Money isn’t the only reason why he does his job.  Pak Mamat is proud to be able to do a civil duty.  He doesn’t get paid much, the real reward is being someone who can help others and this gives him a feeling of being needed by society.

Pak Mamat cukup bangga menjadi pembantu kepolisian. Harapannya agar jasa para Banpol dapat dihargai. Setidaknya ucapan terima kasih atau isyarat tangan cukup membuat pak Mamat senang. Pertemuan saya dengan pak Mamat membuat saya sadar, atas perilaku berkendaraan pengemudi bermotor dan peranan polisi lalu lintas. Selama ini banyak masyarakat merasa takut dengan kehadiran polisi. Padahal jika kita savety riding tentunya tidak ada alasan untuk merasa takut. Gaji mereka tidaklah besar tetapi beban kerja dan tanggung jawabnya begitu besar.

Pak Mamat is proud to be able to help the police.  He wishes people would give more respect to the Banpols.  Just for someone to say thanks or wave a hand while passing means a lot to him and brightens his day.  Talking with Pak Mamat has opened my eyes to the many problems with traffic and why people are usually afraid of the police.  But if we adopt safe driving practices, we really have nothing to worry about from the police.  Police and banpol have low salaries, but the burden of their responsibilities is huge, greatly in excess of their pay.

Polisi dan masyarakat ibarat dua sisi keping mata uang yang tidak dapat dipisahkan. Sepatutnya kita sebagai masyarakat turut menjaga keamanan dan ketertiban di Jakarta. Sebagai contoh, keberhasilan polisi dalam memberantas terorisme sangatlah memerlukan partisipasi aktif dari masyarakat. Mari jadikan Jakarta lebih baik, aman, dan nyaman. Dan jangan biarkan pak Mamat bekerja sendiri..

Police and people are two sides of a coin.  They cannot be separated, each must work with the other to achieve public order and safety in Jakarta.  An example is terrorism.  The police can only capture and destroy the terrorist gangs because of help from ordinary people.  So let’s make Jakarta become a better, safer city and a more comfortable place to live.  Don’t let people like Pak Mamat work alone.

I don’t know for sure what caused his disability.  It’s possibly a hereditary disease or may have been caused by poor nutrition when his mother was carrying him.

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The Way of the Waria

By aboutindo | Published: May 19, 2010
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Waria or bencong are the local terms for transvestites or transexuals.  ‘Waria’ seems to be the term they prefer.

If you see an attractively shaped, tall girl wearing revealing clothes out on the street, she is almost certainly a waria.  It’s quite common to see them working at traffic lights or anywhere the traffic moves slowly enough.  I assume they’re busking, but no doubt they offer other services too.  I don’t know about this because I try to sink out of sight when my car happens to pull up near them.  This is because the sight of a ‘bule’ usually causes them far too much excitement.

The fact that they exist in a conservative country like Indonesia tells me that it’s not a life choice, but something which exists within the individual.  Why would someone willingly choose to live such a hard life?

In the clip, a pair of waria works the shops along the street.  They will sing, chasing away paying customers, until the shopkeeper pays them a tip and then they move along to the next shop.  In fact, it’s not only waria but a lot of buskers who use this tactic.  If you’re in a warung (small streetside restaurant), its not unusual for a busker to serenade you until you give them a few coins. 

The waria in the clip are in Surabaya, but you can also find waria like these in Jakarta and Bandung (that I know of).

Don’t mistake the girly antics of these waria for weakness.  These are among the toughest people in Indonesia, they have to be.

Of course, not all waria live on the streets.  You are also likely to come across them in beauty salons.  Some have even become TV and pop music celebrities.

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