'Key to stopping mobs is enforcing law firmly'

The Jakarta administration and the police have made strong statements with regard to militants who vandalized entertainment centers and nightspots over the past two weeks, but neither have taken any legal action against the perpetrators. The Jakarta Post spoke to some residents about their views on the issue.

Hadi Suriyanto, 27, works at a private bank on Jl. Sudirman, Central Jakarta. He lives with his wife and son in Simprug, South Jakarta:

Whoever is right or wrong, the police should not hesitate in taking stern measures on the spot.

The attackers should be arrested immediately, while owners and employees of nightspots should be brought in for questioning.

From what I saw on television and read in the papers, policemen were at the scene, but they just stood around "to secure the area" without doing anything.

Maybe they did this to keep the mob from getting any angrier, but it might also encourage other groups to do the same thing, and owners and employees of the nightspots might act on their own -- I've been hearing rumors about this.

If this comes to pass, then we might see everyone resorting to vigilantism and open fighting on the streets.

By the way, the group's reasoning that they carried out the attack because it was the holy month of Ramadhan is totally unacceptable and doesn't make any sense to me.

Sigit Kurniawan, 25, is a freelance writer who lives in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta:

I think the recent attacks against nightspots and entertainment centers are simply foolish acts carried out by foolish people, because the foolish policemen do not do their jobs to prevent such groups from taking the law into their own hands.

In my opinion, the attack was not entirely a matter of religious concern about the operations of entertainment centers, claiming that they interfered with the sacredness of Ramadhan. It has been known from past experiences that some of those involved in the attack were only looking to get some money from nightspot managements for their own holiday celebrations.

I think the key to stopping the attack from recurring is to enforce the law firmly.

--The Jakarta Post