Sad tale of the missing side mirror

By Zatni Arbi

JAKARTA (JP): The Jan. 6 issue of The Jakarta Post says the police have arrested ten teenagers for stealing side mirrors from luxury cars that were stuck at Jakarta intersections.

Oh, well, just three days earlier, I had lost the right kaca spion (side mirror) of my 1987 Honda Civic Wonder, a car that had never been a luxury car even when it was still on the drawing board. No, the mirror was not stolen in the Grogol or Harmoni areas, as I have always avoided those hot spots. I lost it when I left my car outside my house a bit too long that Sunday evening.

I never drive on the street due to my limited vision. Still, I am completely aware that driving without a kaca spion among those selfish street users would be equal to taking the fast lane to a costly accident. So, finding a replacement for that stolen mirror emerged as the top priority project on my To Do list.

The first thing that came to my mind was to find it in one of those flea markets. You know... those places where they also offer stolen goods for sale. In fact, with any luck, I might even buy back the same mirror that had been taken off my car. One of the places that immediately popped into my mind was a kaca spion dealer in Jati Baru, Tanah Abang. It is very easy to find him as he conspicuously hangs dozens of kaca spion outside his roadside shack.

So, first thing Monday morning my driver and I headed for that place. They did not have the right kaca spion in stock for me, but they said they could find one for me for Rp 60,000. Not bad, I thought. At least it would not cost me a fortune. But they also told me they would need at least one hour to find the right mirror. Since I had to attend the burial of a distant relative, I told them I would come back in the afternoon and left.

But, after the burial, I went up to the top of Atrium Senen instead. I asked the mechanics there if they had the right side mirror for my Honda. They said they'd find one for me. I waited up there, wondering whether they were now busy foraging around the parking floors below for another 1987 Honda Civic Wonder...

An hour or so later, one of them came to me with what he said was a brand new mirror. The shiny, scratch-free and dust-free plastic bracket swore he was not lying, and he also showed me a receipt from one of the stores downstairs. He asked Rp 85,000 for it. I said OK.

So, that is it, folks! When that neighborhood larcenist popped the side mirror out of its shell that evening, he inflicted a financial loss of Rp 85,000 on me.

Looking back, I know I left the Atrium Senen that afternoon with a distinct sense of relief, because, after all, I did not buy the replacement from one of those illicit places as I had initially intended to. Even though I ended up spending Rp 25,000 more for the mirror than if I had bought it in Jati Baru, I felt good because I did not contribute to the continuation of the side mirror scam.

You see, those teenagers at the intersections keep stealing our sideview mirrors because there is a market for the stuff. Being theft victims, we would most likely think of looking for a replacement for our stolen car mirrors, radios and dashboards first in widely known places such as Jati Baru, Asam Reges, Senen and Taman Puring. Now suppose we could all agree never to buy a stolen side mirror no matter how attractive the price is, we would be eliminating the market for them and those teenagers would cease stealing them from us. One does not require Economics 101 to figure this out.

Unfortunately, cutting off the demand chain for stolen sideview mirrors would be far harder than driving without them. In my case, I managed to avoid becoming a perpetuator of the mirror stealing operation because a new mirror was still affordable.

Other victims may not be so lucky, as they may not have the money to buy a pair of brand new kaca spion (outside mirrors for Mercedes and BMWs reportedly can fetch more than a million rupiah at the auto parts stores).

Besides, telling our compatriots to shun stolen goods even if they could afford legitimate ones might be tantamount to telling a newly married young couple not to share a bed for the next three years of their life. That's why, for the majority of us, it just makes more sense to scour the flea markets for stolen mirrors, etc., if they ever get stolen. Which, of course, keeps the cycle rolling.

So, what can we do? Here's what I did: For an additional Rp 30,000, I had the man in Atrium Senen add a protective bezel on each of my sideview mirrors. Firmly glued to the mirror housing shell, the slightly wider rim makes it virtually impossible for the street racketeers to snap out the glass mirror. The rim of the bezel also has a very sharp edge that can easily cut anyone's fingers. These mirror bezels, which are made locally, do not spoil the look of the mirrors but provide some protection for your kaca spion.

If you do not have them on your car yet, race -- don't drive -- it to the nearest store where they sell car accessories and get them installed immediately. Believe me, even if the police whisk a hundred thugs off our city streets next time, the prolonged economic crisis will prompt hundreds of others to take over their operations. The kaca spion thefts will continue, so why not add this inexpensive protection before it is too late -- as it was in my case.