Indonesia not safe: Poll respondents
Indonesia not safe: Poll respondents
JAKARTA (JP): Most people in Indonesia say they do not feel
safe because of the recent bloody riots rocking various parts of
the archipelago, according to a new survey.
The poll, conducted in mid-February, asked a total of 1,234
people in Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Denpasar, Medan and
Ujungpandang about the current standard of public security.
Forty-nine percent rated it "bad" while 28 percent said it was
"very bad".
When asked where they feel the safest, 79.2 percent said "at
home with the family", 15.4 percent gave "abroad" as their
answer, and 10 percent said "out of towns/villages".
The poll was conducted by the Resource Productivity Center for
The Jakarta Post and the D&R news magazine. More than two-thirds
of the 1,234 respondents were male, and more than 80 percent of
them are in the 20-44 age group. Different backgrounds and income
levels were represented. The respondents included civil servants,
private sector employees, entrepreneurs, students, housewives and
retirees.
Nearly half of the respondents defined safety as having the
ability to leave home without fear, while 30.7 percent defined it
as having the ability to meet their physical needs.
When asked to name the most serious threats to their lives,
61.4 percent said riots with religious overtones, 52.5 percent
said widespread crime and 49.6 percent cited ethnic conflicts.
Asked to name factors that would improve their sense of
security, "strengthening the neighborhood watch" came first, with
55 percent of the respondents ticking this answer, and "saying
prayers" followed, with 32 percent. A greater presence of police
or military in the neighborhood was chosen by 19.5 percent of
respondents.
Most respondents were pessimistic that security would return
to anywhere near normal until after the June 7 general
election, assuming that it proceeds in a democratic fashion.
When asked about what it would take to restore their sense of
security, 48 percent of those surveyed said the establishment of
a legitimate government after the election, and 37.9 percent
believed that this would not be possible as long as the economic
crisis continued.
The tally of the answers to some of the questions exceeded 100
percent as respondents were allowed to tick more than one answer.