Expatriates hanging in despite fears after Marriott bombing<\/p>\n
Megan James, Contributor, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Ambulances were still rushing away from the JW Marriott Hotel in
\nCentral Jakarta when the first wave of e-mails and phone calls
\narrived.<\/p>\n
\"Surely, after this one in Jakarta, you're coming home.\"<\/p>\n
\"It's just too dangerous there. Even if you're not worried for
\nyourself, what about the children?\"<\/p>\n
\"Alexander Downer says there's going to be more, get out while
\nyou can!\"<\/p>\n
These were some that our Australian family got; other expats
\ngot the same. Most of the 12,000 Australians living in this
\ncountry are used to it now -- they are those that chose to stay
\nafter the Bali bombings, after last year's bomb threats to
\ninternational schools and who look like staying despite this
\nlatest evidence terrorists are more active than ever in
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
While the impression back home may be that expats here dodge
\nbombs every time they go to the supermarket, for the moment at
\nleast, life is going on much as normal.<\/p>\n
It's true that there have been about 20 separate Australian
\nEmbassy bulletins issued since March this year, delivering terror
\nwarnings of one kind or another. But it's also true that
\nAustralian and U.S. embassy staff and their families are also
\nstaying put following the Aug. 5 attack.<\/p>\n
There's a sense, too, that after the controversy in Australia
\nover the lack of foreign affairs warnings prior to the Bali
\nbombings, the Australian government is determined to ensure it
\ncannot be accused of not giving sufficient warning to Australians
\nwho might be hurt in a future attack.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, most expatriates here are well aware of the
\nrisks. A friend and her one-year-old son were offered evacuation
\nby their employer, but instead they have moved out of their
\nupmarket inner city apartment block and are staying in a house
\nfor now.<\/p>\n
Apartments like theirs, full of Westerners, could easily be
\nthe next targets.<\/p>\n
Of course, expats think more carefully about moving around the
\ntown. But people are still going out to dinner, the international
\nschools are back on schedule and children's birthday parties are
\nstill held, although not at McDonald's.<\/p>\n
Most expatriates believe the risk of dying in a terrorist
\nattack here is still low; they have quickly got used to other
\ndangers that come with a city that has no sewerage system, where
\ndengue fever is as common as colds and taxis remove seat belts to
\nimprove passenger comfort.<\/p>\n
On the most basic level, it seems that like many other
\ncommunities around the world, people can get used to living with
\na certain degree of terror.<\/p>\n
The positive side of this is that people become more aware in
\nthe details of security.<\/p>\n
\"I try to avoid public places that front directly onto main
\nroads. Without boom gates, there's nothing to stop suicide
\nbombers from getting to the lobby,\" said one long-term Australian
\nresident here.<\/p>\n
\"On the other hand, I feel the international schools have done
\neverything they possibly can to tighten security, including three
\nor four-meter 'blast walls' on some campuses. I'd be a fool to
\nsay they weren't still targets, but they're much less attractive
\nnow.\"<\/p>\n
But for partners and families of professionals, who either
\ncannot or do not want to leave, there is an additional factor
\nthat sways judgment, perhaps dangerously.<\/p>\n
As another expat mother-of-two put it: \"If I go home and
\nsettle the kids back into Australian schools, I don't know when
\nit'll be really any safer to come back to Jakarta. Sooner or
\nlater, my husband will have to give up his work here if he wants
\nto be with his family.<\/p>\n
\"But if I stay for my husband's professional life, is that at
\nthe expense of the kids' safety?\"<\/p>\n
With such personal factors confusing the scene, and embassy
\nwarnings considered poor guides, many expat families admit good
\nrisk assessment is difficult.<\/p>\n
\"I worry I might be like the frog in the cooking pot,\" said
\nanother expat mother.<\/p>\n
\"I came to live here when the water was cool, but then came
\nSeptember 11, Bali, Jamaah Islamiyah and now the Marriott. I feel
\nquite calm about staying here, but maybe I'm being boiled without
\nrealizing it.\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/expatriates-hanging-in-despite-fears-after-marriott-bombing-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}