Thank you Blue Bird

On the odd occasion that I have glanced at the Letters section -- normally to catch up on the latest installment of who is verbally attacking who -- I have not helped but notice the continual cascade of bad publicity directed toward taxi operators in Jakarta. Of the latter, I feel I must share my experience of last week as an indication that in some sectors of the industry, all is certainly not lost.

On Dec. 2 I climbed into the back of a Blue Bird taxi (no. A486 -- Bapak Rukman), paid the due fare on arrival at Senayan Plaza and leapt out, running up the steps of the mall, leaving wife and daughter in my wake (I thought I had money to spend at that stage). Horror and uncontrollable panting struck simultaneously 10 minutes later when I realized I was without a bean, i.e., minus my wallet!

I had no idea what the taxi cab number was, who the driver was, and where it had gone to get its next fare. But I was sure that I had dropped my wallet in the rear of the Blue Bird taxi. A general state of panic was declared as we rushed back to the hotel to swap calls with Blue Bird.

To their credit and to Bapak Rukman's integrity my wallet was returned (moths and all) a couple of hours later to my hotel. All cash and cards accounted for.

Your professional honesty is highly appreciated. My sincere thanks to the Blue Bird Group, and to the driver of A486, "you deserve a raise, Bapak". I leave Indonesia in just over a week and after spending the past three-and-a-half years in the country, this incident only serves to reaffirm my impression of the people of this land. In one word -- wonderful!

K. SCOTT A. THOMPSON

Dahai, South Kalimantan