Corrupt police and immaturity<\/p>\n
On the evening of June 11, my wife and I were returning from a
\nwell-known restaurant in Kota, North Jakarta, with my sister and
\nher boyfriend, who were visiting from Hong Kong. As we approached
\nthe Glodok electronics stores, we noticed police officers were
\npulling every vehicle over and duly did so with the taxi we were
\nin.<\/p>\n
An officer approached my side of the car and asked me to
\nalight. He said he wanted to see our passports. When I told him
\nthat we were not carrying ours as we had been out for the
\nevening, he demanded to see my ID card. After presenting him with
\na photocopy of my KIMS, he ignored it and said he wanted the
\noriginal, which I told him was at my office.<\/p>\n
He wanted to know who all the passengers of the taxi were and
\nwhere they were from. When I told him, and it was clear that he
\nwas not getting any passports, he told us to come to the police
\nstation.<\/p>\n
When I said that we were going nowhere but home, he became
\nfrustrated. And even more so when I told him that I knew the
\nreason for all this. I held my wallet in front of his face and
\ntold him that he was getting none of the money in it as I did not
\nbelieve in corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN).<\/p>\n
I then asked to see his police identification. He refused. I
\nasked to see his KTP. He laughed and tickled my stomach, saying
\nwe could leave.<\/p>\n
Refusing to do so, I again requested to see his ID. But he was
\nnot going to let his identity be known.<\/p>\n
Later, on the way home, our taxi driver broke three red lights
\nand drove up a one-way street the wrong way. Where were the
\npolice then?<\/p>\n
There were many police officers there that night. The scene
\nwas near to the official residence of President Abdurrahman
\nWahid, who says he is trying to clear up corruptive practices in
\nthis country. So, why does he give himself a gargantuan salary
\nincrease and ignore state officials such as police officers,
\nleaving them to practically beg on the streets.<\/p>\n
All the government's talk about increasing tourist numbers
\nhere is beyond pointless. There were two tourists in our taxi
\nthat night and they were appalled by what was happening.<\/p>\n
Incidents such as this are far from isolated and should be
\nincredibly shameful for those in power. How can they call
\nthemselves good Muslims with what they are allowing to happen,
\nand the practices they are involved in?<\/p>\n
It is almost as though, with all recent examples of corruption
\nin this country, those in control are like children who, handed
\nthe reins of an enterprise and not knowing what to do, just look
\nafter themselves and buy candies for their friends. It's well
\npast time they grew up and realized that they are adults with
\nresponsibilities and that there are ways one simply does not
\nbehave.<\/p>\n
The recent Bulogate scandal is a classic example of this.
\nPress photographs showed smiling people handing back the cash
\nthey had illegally taken. No apologies, rather, \"oops, I've been
\nfound out, better give it back and we can all sit around joking
\nabout it.\"<\/p>\n
Pity the IMF, World Bank and other monetary officials who must
\nbe keeping headache pill makers in business with all the cash
\nthat goes astray when doled out here.<\/p>\n
It's no wonder Indonesia is still gripped by crisis. And it's
\npatently clear that things will never change until childish
\nattitudes disappear. Otherwise, just forget about running a
\nnation, and turn it into one giant kindergarten.<\/p>\n
WILLIAM J.F.<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/corrupt-police-and-immaturity-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }