'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.