Hoodlums finish course, enter society with skills
Hoodlums finish course, enter society with skills
JAKARTA (JP): The first two-week course on skills and military discipline for 569 suspected hoodlums ended yesterday with similar courses already scheduled for the future.
"But for the next courses these preman (local term for hoodlums) will need strong support from the public," Jakarta Military Chief of Staff Brig. Gen. Sutiyoso told reporters after officially closing the course at the city military regiment training center in Condet, East Jakarta.
According to Sutiyoso, additional courses will not be possible without material as well as financial assistance from the public, particularly businessmen. "Everybody knows that during each course these preman also need food and clothes," he said.
He explained that the recent intensive two-week course for the 568 preman taking place in Condet and the State Police School in Lido, Sukabumi, West Java, cost around Rp 100 million (US$45,000).
According to police data, a total of 6,755 have been detained in the operation since March 6, the day when two police officers were attacked by a group of 10 young drunken preman at the crowded Blok M shopping center in South Jakarta.
One of the middle-ranking officers was fatally stabbed while one of the attackers was shot to death. The rest have been arrested since.
The operation has been extended throughout the country and some 11,787 have been detained.
According to Sutiyoso, the operation will be extended to all layers of criminal groups, including debt collectors. "We'll continue the operation to keep down the number of crimes."
During the closing ceremony yesterday, Sutiyoso warned the "graduates" to no longer act like preman. "During your two-week stay here, you all have shown us a high degree of discipline and know what the law is." he reminded.
"So, be good citizens!"
"I'll be the first to be really disappointed if you break your promises," Sutiyoso said.
Of the 569 graduates, only 74 have asked the authorities to be sent back to their hometowns.
A total of 174 will be employed as drivers, 151 placed at the city manpower office's workshop and the remaining 170 will be registered on waiting lists at several firms.
A graduate who planned to get back to his hometown in Irian Jaya said: "I want to get home to work as a civil servant and sew in my spare time."
A 50-year-old graduate, naming himself Anton after a Dutchman he killed in 1940s, planned to work as a security guard. "In the past I was a bodyguard in an operation transporting illegal goods. I received a monthly salary of Rp 300,000," Anton said.
"After leaving the course here I want to find a job like the previous one but in a legal way, General," he told Sutiyoso.
A number of the camp detainees, however, were only suspected of being hoodlums.
"I don't know why the officers arrested me while I was helping my parents to transport our things one day," 15-year-old Iqbal, a newspaper boy, told The Jakarta Post.
"But I'm a poor boy that nobody would listen to. I had no chance to leave the course, though it may have given me some experiences that might be useful for my future," he said.
Officers said that the people arrested were detained red- handed carrying out activities which disturbed and frightened the local community.
Sutiyoso also reminded the graduates that his military officers in the city will be monitoring the moves of every single graduate. "Do not forget that we will monitor your progress continuously," he said.
Sutiyoso expressed his hope that the skills and experience acquired by the preman during the course would help them make a better living. "All of us at this ceremony today will be very sad if you don't change your attitudes," he added.
During the two-week course, the men were disciplined militarily and taught skills in the areas of machinery, sewing and automobile repair services. (bsr)