Dilemma of taxi drivers

Dilemma of taxi drivers

People in Jakarta are facing a new and strange phenomenon.
There are people going around asking taxi drivers for money when
they pick up passengers in areas that are supposedly their
"territory". Usually the drivers grant their requests by giving
them about one thousand or two thousand rupiah. Some taxi drivers
have told me that they give in to this extortion so as to avoid
having their vehicles scratched or damaged when in those areas in
the future. Other taxi drivers said they consider it a donation
to the poor and jobless.

Beyond those reasons, I feel society is simply condoning this
unfair treatment of taxi drivers. I think we should not tolerate
such kinds of activities as they are not healthy for the
community in the long run. The younger generation would only feel
that such behavior is acceptable and might follow the footsteps
of their older money-extorting members of society. By allowing
these things to happen, we are contributing to the failure of
social development.

PANCA PRAMUDYA

Jakarta