Driver refuses to use meter

In October, I alighted from a Damri Airport bus at Bulungan, Blok M, South Jakarta, with a view to getting a taxi home. People standing around immediately whisked my two bags off to a waiting President taxi, giving me forebodings of impending doom.

I was not to be disappointed. Once my bags and I were in the dilapidated vehicle passing amusingly for a roadworthy taxi, the driver refused to use his meter and offered me a price for the trip home. The "boys" outside demanded Rp 3,000, he said. Did they?

Having a clear disposition against bullying tactics, corruption and illegal charges which one tends to come up against almost on a daily basis, I refused to pay. He wouldn't go, and neither would I. After an exchange of words, in which I had the opportunity to practice the vernacular street language to which I have now become accustomed, I heeded his plea that I take a Bluebird taxi instead.

Having exercised my freedom of choice and moved my bags to a Bluebird. I had an excellent trip home with an extremely courteous and proficient driver, who told me his views about the state of modern Indonesian, and urban society.

LUQMAN HAKIM LANDY

Jakarta