What cellular phones mean to their owners

JAKARTA (JP): Cellular phones. Some people can't leave home without this handy equipment, which they see as vital. Not only does the handphone, as it is best known locally, facilitate communication, it can also boost a person's image. The Jakarta Post talked to several handphone owners to find out what this equipment means to them.

Indriyati Soebandi, marketing manager of Lawry's the Prime Rib Restaurant in Plaza Senayan, Central Jakarta, always carries her cellular phone with her.

"As a marketing manager, I travel a lot and I find the handphone very useful. Even in traffic jams, I can keep in touch with my business partners," Indri, 28, said.

Initially, she said, she bought her cellular phone because she believed it would improve her image. Not many people owned one, she said.

"Now, I always keep my handphone in my bag. Many teenagers carry their handphones all around ... I don't want to look like them," Indri said.

However, she admitted that the handphone affects her privacy because people can call her any time, even at night. "I am reluctant to turn it off ... who knows, there might be an important call."

Even though a bit annoyed, she is willing to be understanding when people receive calls in the middle of meetings. "Maybe it's important, but I always turn mine off during an important meeting," Indri said.

She said that once a friend called, saying he wanted to marry her.

"I turned him down," she said.

Kemal Jufri, a freelance photographer for Asiaweek magazine, said he enjoyed the benefits of his handphone as he can communicate with people at any time.

"I can't depend on public telephones, most of them are out of order," he said, adding that he got a handphone for practical reasons.

Although he likes the cellular phones, he says there are drawbacks to using them. He sometimes gets upset when he cannot reach the number he wants, even though he dials the correct number and the people being called are in the service area.

"I also feel annoyed when the line is disconnected in the middle of a conversation," Kemal said.

He said he didn't mind some restrictions imposed on cellular phone users because he found them understandable. In fact, he said he appreciated the policy of theaters which require all viewers to turn off their handphones when they are watching movies.

"I feel disturbed when a handphone rings in the middle of the movie... it's just not right," Kemal said.

However, he expressed understanding of people who receive calls in the middle of meetings. "Maybe the call is expected, or it's an important call," Kemal said.

Hadi M. Abednego, the Ministry of Health's director general of communicable disease control and environmental health, needs a cellular phone because as a high level government official, he wants to have rapid access to information.

"I have to know everything, including every problem, as soon as I can," he said.

Hadie never turns off his handphone just in case there is an important call for him. But his phone never rings in the middle of a meeting because he turns off the sound and turns on the vibrator mode.

"I think it's not ethical to let my handphone ring in the middle of a meeting, especially in the presence of my superiors," Hadi said.

He said he did not feel comfortable if he had to take out the phone during the meeting. "Usually, I excuse myself and answer the call outside the meeting room," Hadi said.

Nia Sarinastiti, Manager of PT Mercurindo Cita Murni Communication, says her handphone makes doing her business more convenient.

"I am badly in need of a handphone since I rarely sit behind my desk at my office," the 29-year-old American university graduate says.

She always moves around and she needs the cellular phone to make business calls.

"When I am at other people's offices, I feel reluctant to ask for their permission to use the phone," she added.

Nia, who is used to working more than 10 hours a day, says she benefits a lot from her cellular phone. It is easier to communicate through a handphone because they are rarely tied up, as is the case with regular telephone connections.

"For me, the handphone has nothing to do with a symbol of status. I prefer a handphone to an ordinary phone for practical reasons. I'm so busy every day that I don't want to waste time by using conventional phones," she says.

She carries two handphones with her, a private one and a company-inventory one. But "I turn my private handphone off and will only use it for emergency calls," she says.

Communicating through cellular phones costs Nia between Rp 150,000 and Rp 200,000 (between US$65 and $86) a month. "It's relatively cheap because I receive calls more than I make them," she said.

For Eddy Martono, a senior account executive of a joint- venture advertising company, the cellular phone is a confidence booster in dealing with his clients.

"Wearing a necktie is not enough to show what and who we are. I always feel more optimistic to win my clients' heart when a handphone is in my pocket," he says. "I'm doing business with big companies, you know."

Nearing the age of 40, Eddy looks younger than he is, thanks to the way he dresses. His neat hair, shining shoes and Tag- Heuer wristwatch tell much about him. "But to date, such a gallant appearance is not enough without a handphone," Eddy argues.

He insists, however, that he has his cellular phone mostly because it fulfills modern society's need for rapid information. "I can reach the company's headquarters in Seoul anytime and anywhere," he says.

The handphone also serves as a new family communication device for Eddy, a father of two sons. He says he makes calls to his wife, who works in a private bank, at least three times a day and to his sons whenever he knows he will get home late.

His family, a seeming stereotype of urban family life, usually don't see each other until after 7 o'clock in the evening.

He has to pay at least Rp 300,000 (US$129) a month for the handphone bills.

"That is nothing compared to the benefits I get," Eddy said. (team)