Govt plans campaign to make people queue

Govt plans campaign to make people queue

JAKARTA (JP): One of the targets of the government's national discipline campaign this year will be to teach Indonesians a discipline which they notoriously lack -- queuing.

"It may sound simple, but it has to be simple and all encompassing," Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Security Soesilo Soedarman told reporters yesterday, after meeting with Vice President Try Sutrisno at the Merdeka Selatan palace.

Soesilo expressed particular contempt at the absence of queuing among Indonesians, as apparent at railway and bus stations during the recent exodus from big cities to villages for the Idul Fitri celebrations.

He recalled that there were kicking and shoving among the travelers as they tried to board their trains or buses.

"My God, we've had 50 years of independence," he said.

Soesilo blamed the lack of queuing among Indonesians on the fact that Indonesia was ruled by the Netherlands rather than Britain.

"Look at Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. People queue there because they were colonized by British gentlemen. In contrast, we were colonized by a bunch of traders," said the retired Army general who took part in the independence struggle against the Dutch in the mid-1940s.

"You've got to queue when obtaining your drivers' license, at City Council, or when boarding a bus. You shouldn't push your way through."

He said he has proposed a number of concrete programs to President Soeharto for the launching of the National Discipline Movement scheduled for May 20, the day Indonesia marks National Awakening Day.

Besides queuing, two other items to be incorporated in the campaign are discipline of cleanliness and discipline at work.

The minister said the streets of Jakarta are still badly littered. The campaign proposes that every office building and government office look after the cleanliness of their own environment, by conducting regular inspections.

He noted that the Armed Forces Headquarters in Cilangkap, East Jakarta, is spotless because a corporal has been assigned specifically to look after the cleanliness of the area.

Discipline at work means turning up on time, stopping work at the scheduled time and working according to a prepared program, he said.

For the national discipline project, Soesilo said he plans to summon 15 cabinet ministers to his office to discuss the plan. (emb)