Army course for hoodlums praised, attacked<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The authorities' decision to provide a two-week
\ntraining course for city street hoodlums at police and military
\ntraining centers has been received with mixed reactions from the
\npublic.<\/p>\n
Contacted by The Jakarta Post over the weekend, police and
\nmilitary officers and several people commented that the course is
\nbadly needed to improve the positive talents and skills of
\nhoodlums, or preman. Other people lashed out at the program,
\nsaying that it may not immediately change the hoodlums into model
\ncitizens.<\/p>\n
Some other sources believed that the program was carried out
\nin order to solve the shortage of jail space at City Police
\nHeadquarters, as well as at the nine city police precincts in and
\naround the city.<\/p>\n
\"I think the authorities have to review the program again
\nbecause, for me, it only wastes time and a limited police and
\nmilitary budget,\" a banker who requested anonymity said.<\/p>\n
Mukhlis, 37, a parking attendant in South Jakarta, said that
\nthe program only, incorrectly, treated street criminals, giving
\nthem free cloth, food and the training course.<\/p>\n
\"There are too many poor people, like me, in this city who
\nhave never commit even a single crime and badly need a course
\nlike that in order to make a better living,\" he said.<\/p>\n
In the first phase of the course, called Candradimuka Course
\nI, 569 hoodlums have been selected to join the course, beginning
\nFriday and lasting through April 6.<\/p>\n
Of that number, 419 hoodlums are undergoing the course at the
\ncity infantry military regiment training center in Condet, East
\nJakarta. The remaining 150 were sent to the State Police School
\nin Lido, Sukabumi, West Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The course in Condet was officially opened by the head of the
\ncity's Coordinating Agency for National Stability Maj. Gen.
\nWiranto, while the other one in Lido, about 60 kilometers south
\nof the city, Deputy City Police Chief Brig. Gen. Hamami Nata. The
\ncourse is jointly sponsored and financed by various state bodies
\nand private institutions.<\/p>\n
The program is mainly designed to immediately improve
\ndiscipline in the hoodlums. The intensive courses are expected to
\ngive them proper skills, which might help them make a living
\nlater on.<\/p>\n
\"It's free and easy to say something but what we need is real
\naction to help this group of people by giving them a chance to
\nwork for a living by having jobs, which are lawful and allowed by
\nreligion,\" commented West Jakarta police chief Lt. Col. Made
\nMangku Pastika.<\/p>\n
\"At this time, we don't need too many words but concrete,
\nimmediate action,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Transmigration<\/p>\n
South Jakarta police chief Lt. Col. SY Wenas, who sent about
\n80 hoodlums to Lido, suggested that the program be further
\nextended by transmigrating the trained graduates to other places
\nin Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"We're talking about the mentality of a group of people,\" he
\nsaid. \"So, it might not be easy to totally change their basic
\nattitude in just two weeks but we can do it by, for instance,
\nsending them to other towns as transmigrants.\"<\/p>\n
\"But we have to select them carefully,\" Wenas said.<\/p>\n
Whatever the critics said, many of the hoodlums currently
\nbeing trained highly appreciated the program.<\/p>\n
\"We thank the authorities for allowing us to take such a
\ncourse, which has made us free from public pressure,\" Ujang
\nSaefullah, one of the detained hoodlums, said.<\/p>\n
According to Officer Made, basically all human beings want to
\nbe good but very often they cannot find the proper way to be
\nthemselves.<\/p>\n
\"Everybody needs love, not hatred,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The program is scheduled to be continued by the authorities
\nfor a large number of other hoodlums currently being detained in
\npolice custody. (bsr)<\/p>",
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