Church bombings fail to escape shoppers

JAKARTA (JP): Visitors crowded the city's shopping malls on Sunday despite the two bombings that occurred earlier in East Jakarta and escalating political tension.

Dozens of teenagers were seen surrounding a stage on the first floor of Plaza Atrium in Senen, Central Jakarta, waiting for the scheduled appearance of Indonesian badminton star Taufik Hidayat.

Many teenagers knew about the bombings at the two churches in East Jakarta, but they were not deterred from seeing their idol onstage.

"I know there were bombings, but I'm not scared. I'm sure it won't happen here," one of the teenagers, Ita, said while holding Taufik's picture.

Ita, a resident of Jl. Cempaka Putih Timur, Central Jakarta, said the bombings, which were far from Senen, should not stop her from the rare opportunity of meeting Taufik.

The teenagers were among hundreds of visitors packing the shopping plaza, either strolling along the walkways or eating at the food court in the basement of the six-story mall.

Visitors also crowded Plaza Senayan in South Jakarta, and seemed undeterred by the bombings.

"I'm sure the plaza is safe. The bombings were far from here, it would not happen here," Adi, a resident of Kemang, South Jakarta, said while having lunch in the plaza's food court.

He said he was aware about the Special Session of the People's Consultative Assembly, but said he did not care about the political gathering.

"I do not really care about the session or the political battle. I hope the politicians are able to find a peaceful solution," Adi, accompanied by his wife, said.

Besides shopping, many visitors at Plaza Senayan were flocking to an exhibition on studying in the United Kingdom, held by the British Council on the first floor of the plaza.

The bombings and political tension, however, seemed to have affected shopping centers in Glodok, West Jakarta.

Unlike many other Sundays, shop owners in Glodok said they had less visitors on this Sunday.

Despite the decrease in visitors, most shops and street traders stayed open in Glodok on Sunday.

Agus, an electronics shop owner, claimed that the number of buyers had decreased to between 10 percent and 25 percent, compared with Sundays in past weeks.

"Perhaps they were afraid to go out because of the bombings or maybe they thought that shops here would be the next target," Agus said.

Rusmin, a VCD street vendor, said sales of pirated and pornographic VCDs decreased by almost 25 percent on Sunday morning.

"That is all because of the political fight going on out there," Rusmin said.

He said he was earlier informed that all street vendors were not allowed to do business on Monday because of the Special Session.

However, a police officer in Glodok, Suradi, denied that the police had instructed street traders not to do business on Monday.

"It's probably just a rumor circulating to create more panic among traders so they get angry," Suradi said in front of the police station located next to the Glodok electronics center.

At least 20 armored vehicles from the Army's Cavalry Battalion of Tangerang Headquarters were seen patrolling the area at about 4 p.m.

Suradi regretted the patrol, saying it could frighten the public. "The people might become more afraid because of the patrol." (jun)