Striving for
\nbetter Indonesia<\/p>\n
In the road the other day was a brick and I sat and watched
\nit. A lot of people walked past that brick and a lot of drivers
\nsteered round it, but no one picked it up, and as far as I know,
\nit's still there.<\/p>\n
That brick tells a story, and it is one on noninvolvement
\nand of not caring. This attitude of "it's not my problem so why
\nshould I get involved" is OK if 10 people were fighting to the
\ndeath with knives, but a brick in the road is not going to
\nrequire too much time and effort to remove it.<\/p>\n
I then watched drivers recklessly accelerating to fill the gap
\nin front of them as they were threatened by the intrusion of
\nsomeone wanting to pull out into the main stream of traffic.
\nThere was a look of immense satisfaction when the gap was closed,
\nand then quite the opposite if failure occurred.<\/p>\n
Opposite my house lived a family of Chinese-Indonesians, and
\none night I noticed the father's car in the driveway and that he
\nhad forgotten to turn his lights off. I'll go and tell him I said
\nto an Indonesian friend. "What for?" was the reply, it's not your
\nproblem. I looked in amazement and then went across the road and
\nknocked on the door. A face appeared through the bars and the
\nglass and I said in my best Indonesian, "Problem Pak, Lampu
\nmobil.<\/p>\n
Others came to the door and peered at me, and again and again
\nI said the same thing. No one opened the door and yet they could
\nhear me and also knew that I lived opposite of them for the last
\nfour years. Eventually I gave up and went back indoors only to
\nnotice the man creep out and turn his lights off a few minutes
\nlater. I open doors for people and they walk through it without
\neven saying thank you and when I make a gesture of kindness the
\nreceiver gives me a suspicious look and wonders where the catch
\nis.<\/p>\n
Who has created this uncaring society that is full of
\nsuspicion, aggressiveness and of noninvolvement? Where are the
\nbasic manners, the desire and the decency to help other human
\nbeings and why is that after living four years opposite
\nsomeone, the only two words ever said by them was "Jakarta,
\nJakarta" and low and behold they moved the next day.<\/p>\n
If Indonesia wants a civil society and a better Indonesia,
\nthen I'm afraid it's back to basics as a starting point. Or is it
\njust Medan?<\/p>\n
DAVID WALLIS
\nMedan, North Sumatra<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/striving-for-1447899208",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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