Between an MRT and Air Force One<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Comfort is a luxury if you travel on public
\ntransportation in Jakarta. It's by sheer luck, or a miracle, if
\nyou find a \"comfortable\" city bus to get to the office. The fact
\nis most of the time you spend the bus trip trying to keep calm
\namid all your discomfort.<\/p>\n
Of course, every cloud has a silver lining. That is good news
\nfor those of you who want to train yourselves mentally and
\nphysically to enter an advanced state of body and mind. Let's
\ncheck things out one by one.<\/p>\n
First, for your body. Most of the time, even if you are
\nwaiting in the right place, you will still have to chase the bus
\nbecause there is no telling where it will stop. You also have to
\nget onto the bus as fast as you can because the limit to make it
\non is 10 seconds. Sometimes that means competing with other
\npassengers and pushing your way out of the crowd. And be prepared
\nbecause there is so little space for you that it's lucky if you
\ncan remain standing on your feet.<\/p>\n
Sometimes other passengers push so much that you have to move
\nto a corner, or, because you cannot push other passengers in
\nreturn, you are stuck in front of the always open door, your
\nright leg on the bus floor and the other hanging awkwardly on the
\nstep. Once you are in the bus, you have to lean on something,
\neither on a seat, the body of the vehicle or even on another
\npassenger. If you do not grab onto something, you are likely to
\nfall and head-butt your nearest neighbor when the bus lurches to
\na stop.<\/p>\n
While it's important to maintain your balance, it's much more
\nof a concern to hold onto your bag and wallet as tightly as
\npossible. Otherwise, you may find yourself alighting the bus
\nwithout your purse, cell phone or other valuables you had at the
\nstart of the trip.<\/p>\n
Now you get the picture. Well, yes, there are hundreds of
\ncalories to be burned: the running, the jumping on, the grabbing,
\nthe pushing, the balancing -- they all add up to a strenuous
\nworkout for your legs, arms, upper body and lower body.<\/p>\n
There is also a mental workout to be found in the test of your
\npatience. If you get upset hearing people scream and scold each
\nother wildly, don't bother to ride city buses. If you have never
\nexperienced what it is like to be pushed aside or never done the
\nsame to someone else, then city buses will be your training
\nground.<\/p>\n
If you have a short fuse, try to learn how to go with the flow
\nby traveling on the buses and dealing with all that goes around
\nyou.<\/p>\n
Well, guys, your Jakarta living experience is not complete if
\nyou have never tried public transportation. It really is a \"hell\"
\nof an experience.<\/p>\n
OK, I'm kidding. Actually, the improvement in public
\ntransportation needs a lot of work. We need to tackle these
\nproblems as fast as we can.<\/p>\n
We must build a Mass Rapid Transportation (MRT) system, which
\nwe often see in foreign movies. This is an old issue and the plan
\nhas been discussed for years. But the discussion ground to a halt
\nwhen the monetary crisis hit us.<\/p>\n
Our monetary situation is still bad, so dire in fact that it
\nwould be impossible to revive the plan for the MRT for Jakarta
\nright now. Even though the people badly need it, they have to be
\npatient with the existing transportation situation until the
\nright time rolls around to make things better.<\/p>\n
And then I read about the President's plan to buy a
\npresidential airplane. Wow! How great Indonesia is after all.
\nJust like superpower America, we are going to have an Air Force
\nOne. But then a feeling of despair takes over as I remember
\nMahatma Gandhi, who traveled in an economic-class train just to
\nfeel what his people went through.<\/p>\n
Of course, we cannot compare the present with the past, or the
\namount of budget to buy a plane or to build an MRT. But if the
\npeople whose hard-earned money is used to run the country have to
\nbear the brunt of the hard times, then why should the president
\nenjoy the grandeur of a new plane? The important thing is he can
\nprofessionally carry out his duties, regardless of whether he is
\non Air Force One or a regular plane.<\/p>\n
Anyway, the plan to buy the new plane has been shelved. Yet
\nthe question that remains is whether the duties are being carried
\nout well. It's something to ponder on your next ride on the
\nbuses.<\/p>\n
-- Chadijah Mastura<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/between-an-mrt-and-air-force-one-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }