'People need action, not empty rhetoric'

'People need action, not empty rhetoric'

The series of terror acts, including lethal bombings, in the
country over the last year are difficult to come to terms with.
Some city residents lament the difficulty of finding a better and
safer place to live.

Suggesting that to surrender in faith -- due to the belief that
death could come at any time -- is their best option. However,
some intend to stay away from the public places that are supposedly
prone to terror acts. They talk about their fears with the Jakarta Post.

Sisca, 30, is a housewife who resides in South Jakarta with
her husband and two children:

I am really scared when I think about what happened at the JW
Marriott Hotel recently. It was horrible.

I panicked when I telephoned my husband and I couldn't get
through. He actually had a business meeting with a client at the
hotel. Thank God, he went to another place nearby and he only
heard the explosion.

If he had met his client I suppose he could have been one of
the victims.

I feel a bit traumatized. His clients were some of those
injured by the blast.

My husband and I will avoid big shopping centers or other
public places susceptible to the bomb threat.

I will also avoid places or restaurants next to apartments
because I believe many foreigners -- who in a way are the
terrorists' targets -- stay there.

These days I prefer to shop at mini markets rather than bigger
supermarkets, although supermarkets offer lower prices.

Better to anticipate the worst. I tell my children not to go
to fast food restaurants.

Instead, I take them to open places like Puncak (West Java).
That's far healthier and safer.

Gloria, 27, is an employee with a private bank in Matraman,
Central Jakarta. She lives in Rawamangun, East Jakarta with her
family:

Why should I worry so much about terrorist threats? I'm just
an ordinary person, not likely to be the terrorists' target.

I don't frequent shopping malls or cafes. Anyway, I go home
after work at around 20.30 every day. So when do I get a chance
to go to malls?

I never go to luxurious shopping malls. If went out now it
would just be to watch a film at an ordinary cinema or to go to
an exhibition in an open area.

Honestly, I have never been scared to go out. Death could come
at any time. And, I believe that God holds the exact schedule of
our lives and deaths.

Above all, the security apparatus and government should probe
the case. Better than just a lot of talk condemning the acts.

People need concrete action not empty rhetoric.

If the authorities actually have information about the
terrorist networks, why do they always wait for the worst to
happen.

Oky, 29, is an employee with an international organization in
Cilandak, South Jakarta. He lives in Mampang, South Jakarta:

I still go to cafes or shopping malls to have fun.

However, I cannot not deny that I am worried too. But I am not
going to give in to such morose feelings. I want to make the
most of my life -- seize the day.

Sometimes I am selective when I go out. I try to avoid the
places where foreigners, particularly Americans, hang out.

I am just sad that it's getting hard to find a safe place in
the city. Sometimes I wish I could get out of here.

I have a dream, if I get rich I will move to another foreign
country like New Zealand, for instance. I imagine a peaceful life
there, far different from a country such as this.

-- Leo Wahyudi S.