'Let them come and try their luck'

'Let them come and try their luck'

The city administration has vowed to screen people migrating to
Jakarta at entry points in order to keep unskilled workers out of
the capital. What do the people here think about the move? The
Jakarta Post interviewed some Jakartans to get their comments.

Khatimah Poniman, 29, works at the Jakarta Stock Exchange
Building on Jl. Sudirman, South Jakarta. She lives in Pisangan
Baru, East Jakarta.

I don't approve of unskilled migrants coming to Jakarta,
because they only make the city more crowded and contribute
nothing to society.

They come without any real planning, with no inkling of what
they are going to do once they get to Jakarta. Many don't think
about the kind of jobs on offer or whether they are appropriately
skilled for the jobs.

As result, they take whatever opportunity that comes along,
whether it's prostitution, begging or whatever. They might have
done better by staying in their own village.

Taufan Wijaya, 32, is an employee of an advertising firm in
South Jakarta. He lives in Cimanggis, East Jakarta.

Coming to work in Jakarta is of course everyone's right, and
my initial response to the problem of unskilled migrants is that
let them come and try their luck.

After all it will eventually be a matter of natural selection.
Whether they are selected because of regulations against
unskilled migrants, or because of the society itself, only the
most capable will be able to survive in Jakarta.

I actually approve of the measures taken by the city
administration to prevent unskilled migrants from coming. Forced
evictions in slum areas and not providing relocation for them is
actually an effective way to get them to return to their
villages.

It may seem harsh but sometimes being tough is the only way to
improve society. After all, slums are no place for people to
live.

Whether or not they have better opportunities back in their
villages, well that's another matter altogether. You really have
to solve the problem from upstream to downstream, not just at one
end.

-- The Jakarta Post