Mas River *

In the beginning there was a small sign:

"Don't throw litter in this river!"

Later everything changed

and environment protection officials

shook the hands of the mayor

and the governor

at a dinner party

when their mouths were full of sauce and chilly.

They told them: "This is the most spectacular

development program."

Soon afterward many new signs were installed.

They didn't bar you from doing things

but instead offered you exclusive resorts

on the river banks.

Developers started building projects

by first evicting tramps and squatters

and all worm seekers.

Officers also held gold diggers

at gun point.

A submarine patrolled the river.

"It's our blood, it must be clean forever,"

the investors told every citizen.

But behind the scenes

they paid kickbacks to city rulers.

And one day, after a student drowned in the river

as he was boating with his friends,

the authorities were busy looking for a scapegoat.

Police questioned the operator of the boat

and suspected the river tour company

from its role in the tragedy.

But later the authorities concluded:

The city was to be blamed

for its failure to make a law

obliging every citizen to learn how to swim.

By Roesdi Zaki

* Originally titled Kali Mas. The river runs through Surabaya, the provincial capital of East Java.