Officials raid karaoke center

JAKARTA: City public order officers raided a karaoke center early on Saturday morning on the second floor of Hotel Olympic in Lokasari, West Jakarta, as it was violating the governor's decree on the operation of entertainment centers during Ramadhan.

The decree bans many centers, while those that are allowed to operate may remain open only between 8:30 p.m. and 12:30 a.m.

Antara reported that the operation, led by head of the City Public Order Agency Firman Hutajulu, surprised dozens of visitors at the entertainment center.

"I had just arrived, and had booked this place for three hours," said a man in his 40s, accompanied by a number of female friends, when public order officers asked him to stop singing.

The officers entered all the karaoke booths and asked all visitors to leave. "Many ran away without paying their bills," said Irfan, a manager of the venue.

Asked why he had violated the gubernatorial decree, Irfan simply said that it was difficult to stop people, who had made a booking, from continuing well beyond midnight. --JP