Highway robbery<\/p>\n
On Sept. 24, 1996, I came back to Jakarta after having spent
\nseveral days in Singapore. I arrived at Soekarno-Hatta Airport at
\naround 7 p.m. and, even though I have stayed in Jakarta for four
\nmonths I still don't have a car, I had to take a taxi to get to
\nmy house in West Jakarta. I therefore took the first taxi at the
\nhead of the queue. It happened to be a President taxi, No. 4394
\nand was driven by a 50-year-old man.<\/p>\n
As soon as I entered the cab, the driver tried to negotiate
\nthe price of the journey. I told him that I wasn't a tourist,
\nthat I was living and working in Jakarta and that I knew the
\nexact fare to my house (Rp 16,000 plus Rp 7,000 for tolls). I
\ntherefore asked him to use his meter. He yelled but eventually
\nput it on.<\/p>\n
We drove through the airport when suddenly the car started to
\njudder. The driver stopped the taxi on the side of the road (the
\nmeter indicated Rp 1,770 at the time) and got out to check what
\nwas wrong. He opened the hood of the car and seemed to tinker
\nwith something. He then got back inside the cab and began to
\ndrive.<\/p>\n
To my biggest surprise, within 30 seconds the meter jumped to
\nRp 2,500, then Rp 3,500 to finally show Rp 5,600 when we reached
\nthe airport exit. I told the driver I knew perfectly well that he
\nhad tampered with the meter. He yelled again and told me he
\nwanted Rp 20,000 to drive me home.<\/p>\n
As it was night and in a remote area I agreed to pay, knowing
\nthat it was \"only\" Rp 4,000 above the normal fare. The worst
\nthing in this pathetic story is that the driver not only cheated
\nme, as the majority of taxi drivers try to do in Jakarta, but
\nrobbed me as surely as if he put a knife to my throat. He knew
\nfull well that I had no choice but to pay. Otherwise I would have
\nhad to walk at night, with my luggage, for the few hours it would
\nhave taken me to return to the airport, or sleep on the side of
\nthe road.<\/p>\n
This unfortunate experience, together with a lot of others,
\nexposes a sad fact. It seems the kindness of the Indonesian
\npeople is no more but a myth... in Jakarta at least.<\/p>\n
STANISLAS SAINCLAIR<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/highway-robbery-1447899208", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }