Is it `APEC', `apek' or `apes'?: Jakartans are wondering

Is it `APEC', `apek' or `apes'?: Jakartans are wondering

By Yoko N. Sari

JAKARTA (JP): Every big event generates its own jokes, or
anecdotes, and the big APEC gathering in Indonesia over the past
week is no exception among the local people.

As newspapers and television have bombarded Indonesian readers
and viewers with APEC stories over the past month, people are now
beginning to understand what the four letter acronym stands for.

But pronouncing the acronym is another matter and even
television newscasters sometimes still get it wrong.

This is where some of the jokes originate. The pronunciation
resembles the Indonesian words apek, which means a musty and damp
surrounding, or apes, which means unlucky.

These are the two words with negative connotations, which many
people are using now to describe the APEC gathering, especially
if they have to bear some of the brunt, or excesses, of the major
event.

Street vendors are among those who, while not complaining too
stridently, lament that they have been asked not to trade in
Jakarta's main roads and at busy intersections in the run-up,
during and, perhaps, after APEC.

"I don't understand why the little people always have to
suffer every time there is an international conference in the
city," said Yan, who usually hangs out at the National Monument
(Monas) park just across from the Presidential Palace.

Many vendors, either not aware of any ban, or simply stubborn,
keep returning to their usual business sites every day. And just
as quickly, officers from the city's security and order agency
pick them up.

The sweeping of vendors off the streets is only one among the
extra measures taken by the government to make the APEC meetings
successful.

The city administration, for instance, has gone extra miles to
make the city as beautiful as possible, planting flowers in the
medians along the main thoroughfares and installing new
decorative lights.

"Because of APEC we have become apes (unfortunate)," Sri,
another habitual Monas park vendor, who lives in the Tanah Tinggi
slum area, said in describing the recent turn her life has taken.

She said that the municipal public order office had prohibited
vendors from their trade from Oct. 31 until Nov. 21, but several
vendors tried to circumvent the ban because they do not have any
other livelihood.

"We have to play hide and seek with the officers from the
agency because we will be hungry if we don't," Sri said.

Yan, who lives in the Gambir railway station, said they have
to be prepared to run away from patrolling officers to avoid
paying the hefty fines.

For public transit drivers, the APEC meeting is a Catch-22
situation.

They had earlier feared that the presence of APEC leaders and
the hordes of officials and journalists would create massive
traffic congestion, which would mean less income for them.

Traffic jams were such a major headache for the national
committee, which has organized the APEC meeting, that the
government agreed to its proposal to declare Monday and Tuesday
as public holidays.

Now city bus and taxi drivers say the holiday means even less
revenue than they had previously anticipated because most people
have left town.

"I thought APEC was supposed to discuss ways of boosting the
people's welfare. But my welfare is taking a definite downturn,"
joked Sobikin, a taxi driver who lives in Bekasi Timur.

To some, the public holiday is an APEC gift in many ways.

Tris, a junior high school student, who also works as a
shoeshine boy at City Hall, does not know what APEC means, but
said, "If school is off, I'm all for it."

Benefit

But the barrage of publicity about the benefits of APEC and
the hosting of the conferences to Indonesia appears to have been
successful.

"It means that the world is acknowledging Indonesia as one of
the economic giants in Asia and they are also admitting Indonesia
is a country which has national political stability," Tri Riki, a
student of the University of Indonesia, who lives in Penjaringan
district, North Jakarta, said.

"This is going to be very good publicity for Indonesia as the
host of the meeting. For three days Indonesia will become a
center of International attention," Uci, another student from the
same university, who lives in Pekayon Bekasi, said.

"This is a chance for local businessmen to get international
partners or buyers. Just like the governor said, they have to use
this opportunity," said Zainal Mutaqin, a city administration
official.

"Yes, this is absolutely a big chance for local businessmen,
but I doubt that the small businesses will benefit," commented
Shanti, an employee of a private company.

Some, however, question whether or not the government has gone
overboard in preparing the APEC conference by clamping down on
vendors.

Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono, who heads the National
Committee for the APEC conference, said he never asked the
Jakarta authorities to sweep vendors off the street, or even to
clamp down on crime in the name of APEC.

It appears that the city authorities have been acting on their
own initiative.

"I understand the government should make thorough preparations
for the meeting. But it should have not gone so far as clearing
vendors or hawkers off the streets," Uci said.

"The government has exaggerated this event as if the kings of
the world are coming to this city and the streets should be clean
of vendors and the general public," Tri Riki said.

The street vendors said the government should do more than
just chase them around to make the capital cleaner and more
beautiful.

"The government should give us transportation allowances so we
all can go home for the whole month," Yan said to the applause by
his fellow vendors.