Taking matters into our own hands in an uncivilized society
Krabbe K. Piting, Contributor, Jakarta
The Mysterious Gunman sounds like a cheap Hollywood summer offering, doesn't it?
Unfortunately, that moniker carried a much more sinister history. Remember the early 1980s when PETRUS, short for penembak misterius or "mysterious gunman", made the news everywhere? While I was still trying to memorize the capitals of all Indonesian provinces in elementary school, Jakarta was allegedly swarming with mysterious figures eliminating the city of street thugs.
People talked in hushed voices about their identities (the military? Special police division? Lucifer's right-hand men?), their methods (they targeted tattooed people!) and their casualties (jail regulars, street thugs). They came and went, becoming urban legends in the process.
These days, caught pickpockets are burned to death on the spot by angry mobs or thrown out of a moving train at full speed.
Obviously, street justice does not have a place in a civilized society. But are we living in a civilized society?
Somebody burgled your house? Be prepared with wads of cash when you go to your local police station to file your report. You'll need it for the policemen to "process" your report. While waiting for the traffic light to turn green, a person stands beside your window and flashes a red axe in full view of everybody. What to do except give him your mobile?
According to the United States Department of State, Indonesia is a very dangerous place teeming with terrorist activities. Personally, the terrorists I'm more worried about are the ones out and about on the streets, pretending to be parking attendants, buskers, etc. Or in the case of those axe-wielding men, plain muggers.
I've had so-called buskers banging on my taxi window after I ignored them. A friend witnessed a boy, barely in his teens, carrying a heavy rock in an attempt to intimidate a car driver for his mobile phone. In several places, aside from the usual fare paid at the exit gate, you have to impart extra parking cost to shady individuals for "guarding" your car.
Do I want these people shot without a trial? Do I want them burned to death? I am ashamed to admit that sometimes the answer is a big and resounding yes.
And I am not alone. I know a lot of people who have the same, bloodthirsty opinion. The crime rate, including street crimes, is steadily increasing. Sadly, we cannot rely on our police force to curb it. They often see us as their cash cows, our misfortune as a way to make a quick buck. It's been this way for a long time, and will probably be so for quite some time longer.
If you think that the punishment does not fit the crime, think again. These days, criminals don't merely scratch your car if you don't conform to their command. Some of these people will chop your hand off for something as trivial as mobile phone or even a cheap ring. Some don't mind killing you for your wallet.
I am sure we don't want to resort to such a medieval sense of justice. God knows how this kind of power can be misused. But in such a bleak time where there is no better way in sight, when there is no justice to speak of, any kind will do. Welcome to the jungle, ladies and gentlemen.