Caught in the cross fire -- people reflect on the riots<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): To Indonesians nationwide, the May 14 incident
\nwill be remembered as a day of burning, rampant looting and the
\nunnecessary loss of hundreds of lives.<\/p>\n
The day Jakarta was burned to the ground.<\/p>\n
Some suffered tragic losses while others gained from them. The
\nfollowing are some telling examples.<\/p>\n
Piping Mulyadi, 28, owned a paint store on Jl. Palmerah Barat,
\nWest Jakarta, which was burned along with more than 15 other
\nhouses in the same street.<\/p>\n
It happened at around 12:30 p.m. Masses of people had started
\nthrowing stones some time before that at nearby shopping center
\nwhere Ramayana Department Store had been situated. I peeked from
\nmy window and saw that they were looting and burning the gold
\nshops in there.<\/p>\n
My parents and two sisters were with me. People were going to
\nbreak into our house and I tried to prevent it. I pressed my body
\nagainst the door so that they wouldn't break it down. This
\nbruised my left cheek badly.<\/p>\n
They were trying so hard. The doorknob broke but for some
\nreason, and to this day I don't understand why, they left.<\/p>\n
Then two men came. They offered to help us and we thanked
\nthem.<\/p>\n
I went out for a while... people saw me standing in front of
\nmy house and they threatened to burn the store down, thinking
\nthat it was a store alone. I screamed, telling them that this was
\na residential house owned by pribumi (indigenous Indonesians)
\ncontracted to us.<\/p>\n
My family and I were sitting in the guest room for more than
\none hour when some guys politely told us to gather our valuables
\nand jewelry and try to stay calm because 15 houses on our left
\nside were burned.<\/p>\n
I went out into the crowd. Luckily, I caught sight of my
\nsister's friend's father. He offered to help us and we went to
\nhis place.<\/p>\n
Later we found out that our home and shop were burned down.<\/p>\n
For the first day, we stayed at his place. I am a Buddhist and
\na member of the Indonesian Buddha Dharma Foundation. The
\nfoundation is offering to shelter riots victims so we moved
\nthere, to the foundation's office, Jl. Padang, Manggarai, South
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
Mariani, 45, a seamstress living in Cipinang, East Jakarta,
\nlost her son in the May 14 incident.<\/p>\n
On the Thursday afternoon, my son Budi Harsono, 19, informed
\nme that he was going shopping at the Yogya supermarket in Plaza
\nKlender, East Jakarta. Due to the rioting that followed, he said
\nhe could not leave the building.<\/p>\n
He did not contact me after that.<\/p>\n
I and my other son, Andrianto, 25, later got the news that
\nPlaza Klender was burned to the ground. We tried to find out
\nabout him and went to the Cipinang police station, the Klender
\npolice station, and then to Jakarta Police Headquarters.<\/p>\n
We were later told that we should go to Cipto Mangunkusumo
\nHospital, Central Jakarta. There were hundreds of body bags ...
\nand we were told that he was in one of them.<\/p>\n
We gave a description of him. The clothes that he was wearing
\nthat day... blue pants. That too... it was torn... his face,
\nbody was fully burned and it had become so small. But we knew it
\nwas him.<\/p>\n
Forensics were not willing to release the body to us because
\nof lack of evidence proving that he was Budi Harsono.<\/p>\n
He was buried in Monday's mass burial for 113 victims of
\nThursday's incident at Pondok Rangon, East Jakarta.<\/p>\n
I tell you, he was not a looter. He was just a student at SMA
\n(senior high school) Diponegoro. This should not have happened to
\nhim, this should not have happened to anybody.<\/p>\n
Suminah, 26, worked in one of the stores in Rawabening, East
\nJakarta, that were burned during riots.<\/p>\n
You cannot imagine what I felt when I saw rioters burn and
\nloot the stores.<\/p>\n
Earlier, our boss had told us that we were supposed to meet
\nhim on Sunday (May 17) because he wanted to give us instructions
\nand assign us our shifts.<\/p>\n
He gives us only Rp 150,000 every month and I thought he might
\ntell me to work a few more Sundays, so I was angry and purposely
\ncame late.<\/p>\n
I am so glad I came late. I was supposed to reach there at 7
\na.m. but I got there at 8:15 a.m. I did not see my friends or my
\nboss. I'm sure they might have run off or might not even have
\nshown up but I saw the rioting and the crazy people just kept on
\nburning things.<\/p>\n
I ran out of there and got back home. I arrived home after
\none-and-a-half hours. I don't know whether I could still work
\nthere but I am so glad I still have my baby (2-year old) with me.<\/p>\n
Already, the fires here scared me so much. I don't know ... I
\nam so confused. I don't know what to do and I have no family
\nhere. I live alone. I left my husband in Salatiga, Central Java,
\na year ago and I live alone here with my child.<\/p>\n
I am depending on my neighbors and friends at work, that is if
\nI ever meet them again, to help me.<\/p>\n
Ali, a gas-station attendant who lives in the slum area near
\nthe railway tracks of Jl Angkasa, Kemayoran, Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
I work at the gas station in Gunung Sahari, Central Jakarta. I
\ndid not work on Thursday and Friday but I came in on Saturday. I
\nam sure the station has done very good business over the past two
\ndays because people have been filling their cars and containers
\nas if it was water and did not cost anything.<\/p>\n
At least 150 cars came in the 14 hours that I worked on the
\nSaturday. It could be more ... it was so crowded.<\/p>\n
This is good for me. I earned an extra Rp 40,000 in that one
\nday. I thank God that of the three places burned in this area,
\nmine was not touched.<\/p>\n
I am considering sending my three children and their mother to
\nstay at her sister's place in a kampong in North Jakarta ... I
\ndon't know ... there also it is not safe. She said that Mangga
\nDua (a shopping center in North Jakarta) was burned down. I am
\nonly worried about them ... but things look OK now. Let's see
\nwhat God has in store for this country.<\/p>\n
I found very little food and snacks left, though, in the
\nwarung (food stalls). I bought coffee, chips and snacks for home.<\/p>\n
Raymon, 40, owner of a small stall that sells food and other
\nnecessities on Jl. Bungur Besar Raya, Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
I live in the slum area near the railway tracks of Jl.
\nAngkasa, Central Jakarta. On Thursday, rioters burned three
\nplaces here. One of them was mine.<\/p>\n
My chairs and a table have been burned. Thank God that I don't
\nhave a TV set and my wife and children were out of the house at
\nthe time.<\/p>\n
Since Thursday afternoon, I and my family (wife and two
\nchildren, age 10 and 12) have moved to one of my friend's units
\n(small rooms, one room for each family) here which, Alhamdullilah
\n(thank God), did not get burned.<\/p>\n
Still, I think I might leave my wife and children at my
\nniece's place in Bogor ... I don't know.<\/p>\n
It was people with devilish souls (rioters) who started the
\nburning. These places are all wall to wall.<\/p>\n
People from almost all of the rooms came with buckets of
\nwhatever water they had. They took water from the wells to put
\nout the fires. They acted very quickly. Fires started at around 1
\np.m. They were put out in a matter of 40 minutes.<\/p>\n
Due to the riots, I did not dare open my stall on Thursday and
\nFriday.<\/p>\n
You cannot imagine the business I did on Saturday and
\nyesterday (Sunday). I am expecting the same for today. People
\nwere lining up to buy the most unnecessary of things.<\/p>\n
They were buying soap, toothpaste. Of course, coffee, snacks,
\nchips, sweets ... almost everything was sold on Saturday. I made
\n30 percent more on that day than what I make normally. (ylt\/edt)<\/p>",
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