Saved by Swiss Army knife
Early on Feb. 11, I was traveling south on Jl. Fatmawati at about 12:30 p.m. I had stopped at a few shops on my way south to purchase materials and solicit prices on construction materials from vendors. Traffic was very heavy and moving very slowly, nothing unusual for that area at that time of day. I inched my way slowly past a man standing by the side of the road. The vehicle ahead of me moved forward about two meters, and as I followed there was a loud thump from the left rear corner of my car and my whole vehicle shook. I immediately stopped and turned my head to see the man who had been standing by the side of the road falling. I was shocked, and could not understand what had happened.
Immediately, another man grabbed the stricken individual and lifted him. I rolled down the window and asked if the man was all right. The answer was no, he needed to go to the hospital. The second man said that I should take him to the hospital immediately. Knowing that this is a common practice in Indonesia in the event of an accident, I unlocked and opened my passenger door and the second man placed the injured man in the front seat next to me. The injured man was holding his stomach and his back, and complaining of being very sick. The second man tried to jump into the back seat, but it was full of paint and other things which I had just purchased. I told him, "Only room for one, meet us at Fatmawati Hospital." The second man departed, and I proceeded to inch forward, cursing the heavy traffic, with the injured man in the passenger seat.
As we approached a small side street, several blocks before the Fatmawati Mas complex, the man suggested that I turn there to take him home because it was not necessary to take him to the hospital. I could just give him some money for his injuries. I said, "No, I will take you to Fatmawati Hospital." Traffic moved again, and at the next side street, he again wanted me to turn, saying there was a hospital there. This led me to ask myself:
1. How could I have injured this man when, in the first place, I was moving at less that one kilometer per hour in heavy traffic, and in the second place I had already driven past the man?
2. Why was he complaining about back and stomach injuries when the worst that could have happened was that one of his toes might have been pinched under my rear tire?
3. Finally, what about the recent articles in The Jakarta Post about gangs of thieves preying upon single motorists in the Fatmawati area?
As we approach another small side street before Fatmawati Mas, the injured man again told me to turn because he did not want to go to the hospital. It was at this point that I concluded that I was about to be robbed. What could I do with this man in my car? What if he was not injured at all? What if he had a weapon? As the traffic inched forward, I felt in my pocket to make certain that my Swiss Army knife was there. It was, and I thought that at least I had some kind of weapon. It then occurred to me that if he had a knife and threatened me with it first, that I would again be vulnerable, trapped in my car, certainly robbed and perhaps held hostage.
As the traffic inched forward, I slipped my right hand into my pocket and removed my knife. When we again stopped, I raised my right hand together with my left and unclasped the largest blade on my pocket knife. I then turned, pointed the blade at the man's stomach, and ordered him out of my car. He left immediately, and in the mirror I saw him jump quickly into the vehicle following me, with no sign of an injury.
I called my secretary and asked her to report the incident to the police. After about half an hour she called me back to say that because I was a foreigner I would be required to report the incident to Polda Metro Jaya. At that point, I was not interested in driving back to KOMDAK.
Name and address
known to the editor