Vigilance better than terrorist rumors

Iqbal Widastomo, Research Associate School of Politics London School of Economics, London

Living in the information age, we now have a stunning assortment of technology through which we can communicate and keep in touch. The Internet is an ever-growing source of information, and with the prevalence of mobile phones we now, often, seem to communicate as much through SMS messages as we do by actually talking on these phones.

These technologies allow for an ease of communication, thus it is easy to keep in touch with friends and acquaintances. But it is also very important that we are careful in our communications. The abundance of ways in which we can communicate now means that we may receive an abundance of messages but sometimes these messages may not be wholly worthy of our attention or believable.

Following the attacks on peaceful and innocent people in Indonesia, it seems as though the abundant means of communication available are sometimes not being used for good communication. Sometimes they are instead being used for the spread of rumors and gossip, which are negative and potentially damaging.

For example, over the long, holiday weekend in Indonesia for our celebration of Independence Day numerous messages were being circulated, with the purpose it seems only to engender fear and worry in the minds of the recipients. SMS messages were flying around that warned of certain locations within the capital that ought to be avoided over the weekend. These locations, it was proposed, were high upon the lists of potential terrorist targets and even identified as being likely to be "hit".

Most of the locations being mentioned were shopping malls, but in addition some major hotels across the city were also listed as potential targets. Immediately, it has to be questioned, what were the sources of such information? However, consistently it was simply impossible to establish any foundation for these sources in any respected and authoritative security or government agency.

Indeed, when one of these SMS messages was queried, the reply was simply that the information was from "somebody in Singapore". Who that somebody was and why that someone in Singapore should have such information remained a mystery.

In response to why those locations could be considered targets, the simple, unsatisfactory reply was only that such locations were places that bule (derogatory term used by locals to brand white people/expatriates) are likely to be found.

Many people will simply consider such rumors and probably set them aside. However, there are those who are adversely affected by such rumors. Indeed a number of people that were "in the loop" of these recent warning messages did believe them and advised others to avoid the identified locations/targets.

But in times of trouble and potential risks from terrorism, paranoia and overreaction should not be our guiding principles. A greater sense of evaluation and critical thought needs to be applied to our current circumstances. Alongside our abilities to evaluate and be critical, must stand our ability to be vigilant. We all must possess greater powers of vigilance; to be aware and responsive to the potential dangers around us.

Security checks at entrances to shopping malls and hotels should only be considered as minor but very necessary inconveniences. But such security checks should go ahead and should be expected and respected. It cannot be acceptable to see halfhearted security checks for unresponsive members of the general public.

Upon entering a mall last weekend there was a car in front of mine that had not been sufficiently checked. The security guards made a weak request for the back door of the vehicle to be opened. When the driver waved a hand, as if to say there was no need for the check, the security guard simply permitted the car to continue on into the building, without the necessary security check being completed.

This kind of negligence and dismissive behavior towards the necessity of security checks should not be permitted. Security should be an issue which we all recognize as being important. Here there may be lessons for us to learn from the experiences of other countries and the citizens of those countries who have witnessed and been the victims of terrorism in years gone by.

A colleague from the United Kingdom has always made a point of expressing his concern at seeing any unattended bags at either bus or train stations or most particularly at airports. For him it has become second nature to be aware of potential security concerns. In this way he exercises a vigilance and observant attitude that means that he is both willing and able to help and assist in maintaining security for all.

This has to be the kind of attitude and extra vigilance which we all need to implement and integrate more into our own daily lives. We need to have the right mental attitude to respond to the types of rumors that may circulate. Likewise, we need to exercise appropriate caution in our responses to such rumors. We should not be negligent towards warnings but at the same time we should not kowtow to the excesses of such warnings.

If we are not cautious and vigilant, but allow ourselves to weakly and blindly believe in rumors and respond in a paranoid manner then we are, in effect, handing a kind of victory to the terrorists. As much as possible we need to maintain our usual way of life but always carry with us a cautiousness to act in a way that will not allow the terrorists to undermine the rule of law and civilized behavior.