'Bambang, get in back of the line'
'Bambang, get in back of the line'
One can sometimes learn a lot about certain cultures from
little things. One such thing is the tradition of lining up to
wait for something in a public place. The seemingly generally
understood practice,is however often ignored by Indonesians --
including senior government officials. The officials are
apparently used to be doted upon everywhere they go.
State/Cabinet Secretary Bambang Kesowo is just one of these
examples. The minister continually has drawn the ire of others by
his habit of cutting in line or just going straight to the head
of the any line where people are waiting to be checked by
security men before entering the Sheraton hotel compound.
At one point he haughtily strode past two foreign journalists
who had been waiting to go through the security checks.
Irked by his behavior, one of the journalists said half
yelling at Bambang: "I was in line ahead of you." Bambang, who
was talking on his cellular phone, suddenly turned sheepish, told
him he was sorry, and allowed the journalists to go ahead of him.
;JP;
ANPAf..r..
Bali-phone-sidelines
'Oh No!, my cell won't work'
JP/13/Bali
'Oh No!, my cell won't work'
For security reasons, all cellular phone signals have been
jammed around the venue summit. However, State Minister for
Development of Eastern Indonesia Manuel Kaisiepo did not realize
it, thinking that his cellular phone must have been on the blink.
So he did what most of the world's cellular phone technicians are
apparently trained to do -- he shook it violently.
After attending a ministerial meeting between Brunei,
Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines on Monday, the minister
tried to make a phone call from his phone and found that it still
would not work.
He moved around from one spot to another shaking it as he went
only to find the "no signal" sign on his cell phone. After trying
for a few minutes, he decided to put the phone back in his
pocket.
"The minister should be informed by about the security
measures. He looks so confused," said one snickering conference
official. --JP
;JP;
ANPAf..r..
Bali-Summit-theft
Easy theft amid tight security
JP/13/Bali2
Easy theft amid tight security
When inspecting the ASEAN summit venue on Sunday, National
Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar was clearly satisfied with police
preparations to secure the two-day meeting which will last until
Wednesday.
Security is very tight around the venue because the government
does not want any terror attacks during the summit.
For the crew members of RCTI TV station who are covering the
summit, the situation was indeed not safe in the hotel where they
are staying although the hotel is situated near the summit venue.
On Sunday morning, thieves stole goods from three of five rooms
they were using. They took several cellular phones, cash and
other belongings worth about Rp 16 million.
"We have reported the theft to police," said one of its
reporter. Probably the reporter hopes Bachtiar will receive the
report. JP
;JP;
ANPAf..r..
Bali-Summit-profit
Who needs profit anyway?
JP/13/Balis
Who needs profit anyway?
When President Megawati Soekarnoputri opened the ASEAN
Business and Investment Summit here on Sunday she read out her
written speech in English.
The President can actually speak English fairly well, but
while reading her speech, she stumbled embarrassingly on the word
profiting, calling it something on the order of "provaiting".
She tried to correct her mistake but still failed.
"She looked a bit nervous. Actually she should not worry about
it because at least she tried hard," said one of the guests.
Her step-sister Kartika Soekarnoputri drilled her in English
before the President addressed the United Nations General
Assembly last month.
Kartika probably needs fly over here from her home in New York
to resume the English lessons for the President, or maybe she can
enroll at one of the many private English schools here. JP