Clean up the hoodlums

Clean up the hoodlums

A few days ago a policeman was stabbed to death in a shopping district of Jakarta. This incident has woken up the police from their negligence of the mushrooming of street gangsters.

Hoodlums can be easily seen collecting money from public transportation drivers on the streets. The practice, which clearly leads to expensive transportation costs, is overlooked by the police.

The other way to get easy money from the streets is by malak (extortion) and taking parking fees illegally.

It is time the police conducted a clean-up operation against the hoodlums. It is better to act now, before it is too late. We must also be aware of other problems that are known to have disturbed the peacefulness of the city--juvenile gangsters, student brawls, school drop-outs, unemployment--to mention just a few. The youths are supposed to work for the good of this country, not become hoodlums.

BONO ANGGONO

Jakarta