'August mob' rocks Ambon

AMBON, Maluku (JP): Bank employees across the city were dumbfounded Monday when they opened their doors only to find huge crowds fighting their way in to have bank notes with serial numbers ending in 23 and 73 exchanged for 10 times the nominal value.

Police were called in anticipation of an incident. The crowds in front of Bank Rakyat Indonesia and Bank Central Asia were so huge that they triggered heavy traffic jams during the morning rush hour.

The people dispersed peacefully only after the banks announced that the news about the "lucky" bank notes was untrue.

Bank officials apparently knew only too well how not to disappoint people. They told the booing crowds they were welcomed to exchange their worn out banknotes for brand new ones.

Antara reported yesterday that the bizarre news was broadcast last weekend by a private TV station. The lies swept through the markets and coffee stalls on the city's streets.

It turned out that the numbers were related to the year the late First Lady Tien Soeharto was born, 1923, and the age she died, 73.

"We spent the whole day answering telephone enquiries about the rumors," said Susanto Budiatmoko, deputy chief of the local branch of the central bank, Bank Indonesia. (pan)