'I'll sell the TV, I don't care'

'I'll sell the TV, I don't care'

State television station TVRI seems determined to reinstate
monthly license fees for TV owners, which would range in cost
between Rp 3,000 (about 30 US cents) and Rp 12,000, depending on
the amount of power being used in a house. If TV owners failed to
pay the fee, their power would be temporarily disconnected. The
Jakarta Post asked some residents for their thoughts about this
proposal.

Windrati Gang, 36, is a self-employed caterer. She lives with her
family in Tanah Mas, East Jakarta:

Really, they (TVRI) will charge the fee again?

I can't believe it. Nobody ever watches TVRI. I think there is
only one person in a million in the capital who ever clicks to
that channel. I for one stopped watching it when private TV
station RCTI went on air.

The only TVRI program that I occasionally watch is Dansa Yo
Dansa (Come on Dance), and that's not very often. I won't pay the
fee, not until the station runs better programs.

TVRI needs to work on its programs until it can rise to the
same level as private stations. Only then can it ask people to
pay for its services.

Fajran Novita, 32, is a taxi driver. He lives with his wife
and two children in a rented house in Senen, Central Jakarta:

Nope. I will not pay such a license fee. What for? To make
some rich people richer? I guarantee you that there would be
leakage before the money got into the right hands. Besides, I
already have too many bills to pay.

And if they insisted on cutting off the electricity to my
house, well, then let them. I'll sell the TV set, I don't care.

Although it is the state TV station we're talking about, I'm
no less nationalistic if I refuse to pay the fee, even if it may
get TVRI out of a huge debt. After all, it's all about business
competition. Only the best can survive, right?

--The Jakarta Post