Driving in Jakarta streets

Driving in Jakarta streets

I'd like to respond to the letter entitled Never ending story
by Christian Wilhelmi in The Jakarta Post, Jan. 19, 1995.

I felt extremely sorry reading about your experience of the
unsuccessful chase of the President taxi driver. What the heck,
let it go! From your name I could not guess where you come from,
but it seems to me that you come from a well-organized, developed
country where you can possibly chase and catch other cars.
Jakarta is, however, a different place. Please note, there are
about eight million people crammed in this city.

I cannot stop myself from telling you that you were wasting
your energy for doing what you did (or didn't) to this taxi
driver. What would you be doing if you had got him? He could have
taken you to a place where many drivers usually gather. What can
you do about it? In this sort of problem, unless you have a good
knowledge of the local system, and even if you take the matter to
the police, you will get nowhere. It will only add to your
trouble.

I agree that the police are helpful and supportive but this is
simply because you are a foreigner. There is no guarantee that
they are even willing to sacrifice their time to solve an
individual complaint like yours in a timely manner, because it is
almost routine for them to receive hundreds of tiring complaints
every day.

I can imagine your zero mood and how discouraged you were that
day. I would suggest for the future that you think twice before
deciding to involve yourself in such a daring game. With all the
anger, sadness, madness as well as happiness, I have been driving
for 18 years on Jakarta's congested and polluted streets. Many
people would agree with me that "there is no car without a few
scratches in Jakarta." Just be careful when taking to the
streets.

FRANCISCA INDARSIANI

Jakarta