Happy, safe holiday
Unmindful of updated travel advisories, holidaymakers from Australia headed to Bali last week. Visitors from other countries are also opting to go through their plans, having booked flights and accommodation a few months in advance.
Meanwhile, residents in the nation's major cities may well have bought tickets to gala dinners at luxury venues for Christmas and New Year's Eve, in spite of recent terror warnings concerning five-star hotels.
The little free time that modern life offers, it seems, is too precious for many a person stressed out from the daily grind to waste on worrying over whether staying at home would be safer.
Hotel and airline management have reported only a small number of cancellations following the warnings issued by the governments of at least Australia, Britain and New Zealand.
That the majority of holidaymakers are going ahead with their plans may also attest to a general trust and confidence in security measures taken by hotels and airlines in cooperation with the police.
Such determination is observed every holiday season, even before the advent of this so-called era of global terrorism. Of course, even without terrorist threats, police and hospitals are on stand by, ready to deploy the moment a merry outing turns into an accident, a tragedy.
In recent years, however, as the main suspects of past bombing cases remain at large, families face an extra concern as to whether going to Christmas Mass will be safe from bomb attacks. In addition, following reports that nine packages of explosives were found on an intercity bus in West Java, travelers must also watch out for suspicious-looking packages.
Such developments leave us with the chilling prospect that the authorities may have greater difficulty in unraveling and stopping terrorist threats.
Fortunately, the police and other security forces have the full support of the public -- who willingly submit to security checks on cars and bags on a daily basis at public venues.
Such trust means abandoning the status quo of intelligence and police officers as established under the New Order -- those much resented "officers of the law" who harassed, abused and traumatized civilians in the narrowly and oppressively defined "stability and security" of those days; their own breed of terror.
Armed with this newfound public trust, it is hoped that the people in charge will do an even better job this season in keeping us safe, as this trust also means a constant expectation for results: The public expects to see proof of security forces' ability to deny any more victims to evil.
Meanwhile, reports that the top terrorist suspects in the country had escaped capture through bribery has left people wondering about basic law enforcement coordination in the face of very grave -- and, we are told, continuing -- threats. Apparently, the traffic officers did not recognize the two Malaysian bomb-makers they had stopped for a routine violation, shortly before an explosion tore through buildings on either side of the Australian Embassy in Jakarta in September.
Our appreciation and support go out to all those officers who will be on duty over the next few days and so be unable to spend time with their loved ones for the holiday.
At the same time, public support of security measures also means sharing the responsibility by tending to our own safety before hitting the road -- turning off all electrical appliances, checking the gas stove, locking all doors and windows, and other commonsense things.
We wish all of our readers a happy and safe holiday.