Deceived

Deceived

From Media Indonesia

On Thursday, Sept. 29, 1995, four young men of Indian descent visited my house hawking framed calligraphic designs for Rp 25,000 each. They greeted me in the Islamic tradition. Speaking fluent English, they told me that they came from India. They also said that they could not speak Indonesian. I warned them that most of the complex residents can hardly speak or understand English. But they said the price appeared on the item.

My compassion was even greater when they showed me their identity cards stating that they were from Kashmir. They wanted to raise funds to help their Kashmiri brothers and sisters who are still living in poverty, adding that they would stay only for a few months before they went to other Southeast Asian countries to sell the same merchandise. I believed all they said and bought four items. The story did not end here.

About half an hour later I met them again not very far from my house. They scarcely noticed me. The four young men were heartily joking in Indonesian.

How come?

I checked the price of the same goods in the Bekasi market. The item cost only Rp 3,500. Astagfirullah!

SYAHRIL

Bekasi, West Java