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)