Kenny speaks for the sake of his fellow debt collectors<\/p>\n
By Johannes Simbolon<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Kennedy, who is affectionately called Kenny,
\nthought there was no use in disguising his profession to his
\nformer classmates at the UKI (Indonesian Christian University) at
\na reunion gathering last year in the West Java weekend resort of
\nPuncak.<\/p>\n
\"I'm a debt collector,\" the 29-year-old Ambonese told them,
\nfeeling gloomy at finding many of his former classmates had more
\npromising careers in professions much more respectable in the
\neyes of the public.<\/p>\n
After graduating from the university's economics school back
\nin 1990 he was engaged in the debt collecting profession, and is
\nstill there today. He ended up there after his dreams of making a
\nbetter life -- the very one shared by all boys and girls
\nmigrating from the countryside to this glamorous city -- failed
\nto come true despite his relentless efforts.<\/p>\n
\"My widowed, beloved mother was very proud of me, because I'm
\nuniversity,\" says Kenny who lost his father, an armed forces
\nmember, when he was at elementary school in Ambon.<\/p>\n
But the merriment of graduation day lasted as briefly as the
\nrainbow glows after noontime rain. The hundreds of applications
\nhe sent to well-established companies came to nothing, forcing
\nhim into the debt-collecting service as a means of survival,
\nwhile continuing the ritual of sending job applications. But
\nnobody would employ him, says Kenny, because he had no convenient
\nconnections, or perhaps God simply answered the prayers of his
\nfellow debt collectors that he remain among them.<\/p>\n
\"Every time I told them I had sent another job application and
\nwe might part because of that, they said `We'll pray to God that
\nthe company will not call you'. As it turned out, God always
\nanswered their prayers and has kept me among them until now,\" the
\nbushy-eyed Kenny chuckles.<\/p>\n
Forgotten<\/p>\n
There is no leader in his group of nine debt collectors, he
\nsays. He seems prominent for his high education, though he is the
\nyoungest and the sole bachelor of the group. There are ex-
\nconvicts, retired servicemen, former national boxers and
\nathletes, who share the same feeling of being outcasts and
\nforgotten after being adored. They recall bygone days of basking
\nin fleeting glory.<\/p>\n
Although most other debt collectors work for law offices or
\nyouth organizations, Kenny's group stand by themselves, \"we can
\ntake our income uncut\", Kenny says.<\/p>\n
Their clients include individuals, leasing companies, banks
\nspreading from Sumatra, Java and even as far as Malaysia. Their
\nclients have the usual problem of failing to get money back from
\ndebtors though they have tried all the usual channels, including
\nhiring lawyers or law enforcers. Kenny's group tackle debts of Rp
\n50 million minimum.<\/p>\n
\"Many people mistakenly think we are hired to force bankrupt
\ndebtors to pay back their loans, thinking thereby we are inhuman.
\nIf we find a true bankrupt debtor, we give up and quickly cancel
\nthe contract with our client,\" says Kenny.<\/p>\n
The bankrupt debtors who still feel responsible, he says, are
\neasy to find. On the contrary, the debtors they normally deal
\nwith are mostly persons living in secret hideouts, whose
\nwhereabouts is difficult to find even for hired law enforcers.<\/p>\n
\"To them, there's only one word: frauds! They intentionally
\ntry to dodge their obligations,\" Kenny explains.<\/p>\n
With the debt collectors who have been reared on the streets
\nand are street-wise coming into the scene, the frauds find their
\nmatch.<\/p>\n
Information about the frauds are easy to find amongst debt
\ncollectors since the former have the tendency to repeat their
\noffenses. They are coincidentally familiar with the night life,
\nwhich is little more than a daily rendezvous of the tough guys.<\/p>\n
\"After two or three days of survey, we know everything about
\nthe debtors, including their hideouts, hangouts, mistresses,
\nhouses, as well their daily schedules. Thus, when we come to deal
\nwith them, they cannot cheat us by saying they have gone
\nbankrupt,\" says Kenny.<\/p>\n
Tricky debtors<\/p>\n
In many instances, the debtors often have thugs to protect
\nthem. But the debt-collectors have always well anticipated it
\nsince they also have \"muscle\" and connections with various groups
\nof people.<\/p>\n
A public attorney does not have such skills, nor the time to
\ndo as the debt collectors do. Tricky debtors can easily dupe
\ncourtroom judges into believing that they are bankrupt and
\ntherefore judges may mete out a lenient punishment at the expense
\nof the creditors.<\/p>\n
\"It is because the law is weak that people look to us for
\nhelp,\" Kenny says.<\/p>\n
Kenny admits that many amateur debt collectors do unlawful
\nthings, including confiscating debtors' effects, exerting
\nphysical and non-physical pressure.<\/p>\n
They are, he says, mostly newly-released ex-convicts, who are
\nunfamiliar with the so-called survey or negotiating methods which
\nprofessional collectors practice. To make things worse, they are
\nusually hired by creditors who are so frustrated that they order
\nthem to do whatever to the fraudulent debtors.<\/p>\n
Today, Kenny feels saddened over the public's black-and-white
\nview about the debt collecting service, the authorities' resolve
\nto crack down on it, the ignorance of many that they have
\ncontributed to the economy -- however little and obscure it is --
\nprotected the right creditors from the fraudulent people owing to
\nthe impotency of the law.<\/p>\n
As for Kenny, things seem fine now. A bank, which was his
\nformer client, respects his skills and recently offered him a
\nposition at its bad loans section.<\/p>\n
His main concern now is the fate of his former fellow
\nprofessional debt collectors, who have started to make an
\nobviously better life, though they have not left the life on the
\nstreets as it is the only place they feel at home.<\/p>\n
\"If the debt-collecting service is banned, should they go back
\nto the dark world of crimes?\" he wonders.<\/p>",
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