Overlooked mailboxes loyally stand duty
Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Internet and short messaging service (SMS) have done away with personal letters for most people living in a big city like Jakarta. But around 400 orange mailboxes scattered throughout the capital still await those wanting to post letters.
"We check the mailboxes every day and pick up any letters inside," Sudarwanto, a public relations officer with state-run PT Pos Indonesia, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
He said the number of letters handled by 434 post offices in Greater Jakarta had dropped by 40 percent in the past five years from more than 660,000 to around 400,000 letters per day on average. The letters are delivered by more that 1,600 postmen on motorcycles.
Sudarwanto said the postmen check every mailbox in the city every day.
"Sometimes there are only two letters inside a mailbox, but we often find more than 10 letters a day," he said.
"Our postmen might also find blank papers or even food inside the mailboxes."
Most mailboxes are located in densely populated areas. One on Jl. Salemba, in front of the University of Indonesia's School of Medicine campus, in Central Jakarta, is surrounded by sidewalk vendors.
One sidewalk vendor said that postmen clear the mailbox almost every day.
"They are quite fast," she said. "A letter will soon reach its destination."
The vendor said that many people still used the mailbox to post letters.
"Once I saw a guy with a big bag containing plenty of long white envelopes. He put them in the mailbox," she said, inserting her fingers into the mailbox slot to check if it was full.
"Oh, the letters must have been picked up this morning," she said.
Darto, a sidewalk vendor on Jl. Lapangan Banteng Utara, in front of the Jakarta Post Office, in Central Jakarta, said he saw people making use of the mailbox there after hours.
Sudarwanto praised TV quizzes that encourage viewers to send postcards or envelopes containing coupons, packages or answers to manufacturers.
"Whenever there is an interesting quiz on TV, our postmen are busier than usual delivering viewers' letters or postcards," he said.
Sudarwanto said the Idul Fitri holiday, from Nov. 12 to Dec. 10, was peak season for postmen because people in Greater Jakarta sent more than 18.5 million letters to other regions while Greater Jakarta received 10.5 million letters and cards.
The figure is higher than last year's Idul Fitri holiday when 14.3 million cards and letters were sent to other regions and 8.1 million cards and letters were received in Greater Jakarta.
Obviously, the Internet and SMS cannot totally replace letters.