Militia

Militia

From Media Indonesia

The establishment of a civilian militia (military-trained civilians), will, in my opinion, only add to the problems of our beloved Indonesia. It is well known that the people are easily angered now. So, it is not precluded that a new problem may arise between the militia and the general public.

The events on Nov. 13 showed that security personnel/Armed Forces members, who have been trained in a normal span of time, were not entirely up to the task of containing the people's emotions. What about the militia, who will be trained in a very short time?

I think people nowadays get angry easily and tend to plunder and vandalize because many of them have no income and food prices are high and unaffordable. In other words, the people are hungry. Therefore, the funds for the militia would be better used to help small enterprises, so that the people would have an income and food prices would decrease.

For security purposes, the most suitable is the Armed Forces themselves, for the simple reason they have been prepared for it. In order to attract students to join the Armed Forces, especially the Police, presentations could be organized in senior high schools. This has rarely been done.

I am presenting this letter as input for senior government officials and policymakers.

ARINDRA D. PUTRI

Jakarta