Plis Deh Jakarta!

Yesterday’s aftermath:

• 1 student got hit by a car
• 2 other students wounded
• 16 police wounded
• 2 press members wounded
• 8 damaged cars
• 1 burned car
• property damage at various locations
• thousands of Jakartans caught in traffic, or having to walk home
• combined pollution of the deadlocked traffic jam around Semanggi
• other damage or wounds not yet documented

Dear student protesters, you are fighting a noble cause – yet you fight with no nobility. Yes, you may have the nation’s attention, but you definitely don’t have the nation’s respect.

And to think, by this hour, it will all be forgotten because almost everybody will be waiting for a soccer game played far, far away.

So what else is new. There are so many student or union demonstrations today, a lot of the time we don’t even care what they’re trying to say! Try to swallow the amount of demos scheduled today in this article. Paling tidak sekarang kalau demo ada jalur hukumnya, supaya teratur dan tidak mengganggu lalu lintas pada umumnya… at least secara teori. Kenyataannya tetep macet, toh? Dan keliatan dari daftar demo ini, informasi yang ingin diketahui orang banyak itu tentang jam, lokasi, bentuk kegiatan. Mungkin ada yang peduli siapa yang demo, jadi ditulis juga. Tapi apa yang didemokan….

Ayo, demo hari ini tentang apa?

Pliss dehh…

Yang namanya demo di Jakarta udah jamak banget ya… demo masak, demo pembersih lantai, sampai demo kenaikan BBM. Dan demo-demo yang lain, yang sepertinya harus berlokasi di daerah Bunderan HI, depan MPR/DPR, Sudirman/Thamrin, dan sesekali di depan salah satu kedutaan.

Pasti ada aja yang diprotes… kalo protes harga-harga naik, masih OK lah, walaupun sebenernya kan pasar kita udah market-oriented economy, jadi harga-harga sebenarnya ditentukan pasar, bukan pemerintah. Jadi protes ke siapa? Mau balik ke jaman pemerintah ngatur semuanya? Ga mau juga kan. Ada juga protes anti-pornografi dan pornoaksi….. and at the same time, some guy selling tabloids on a side street near the location is selling tabloids which are on the verge of pornography.

There’s also the time where a certain religion-oriented so-called defense front (I think you all know what I’m talking about) mobbed an embassy because said embassy’s country had buildings and murals that offended their religion. Dudes, get a life! Masih banyak yang bisa diurusin selain mendemo sebuah bangunan yang bahkan kita nggak pernah liat.

Dan pasti sekali sebulan mahasiswa turun ke jalan memprotes pemerintah, how bad they are working, bahwa pemerintah harus turun karena harga BBM mau naik atau apalah. With no real solution as to what happens after that.

And the one thing about these demonstrations for all travelling Jakartans – MACET! When’s the last time we even remembered what today’s demonstration was about? It used to make a big statement – now everyone who wants to be heard instantly thinks they should just drag some people to Bunderan HI and bam! National statement, televised.

Whatever the cause, you really need to find some other way to communicate (maybe write a blog, guys?), because it’s just not working anymore. It only makes the city more gridlocked than it already is…

Ujung-ujungnya complain gue cuma satu: demo bikin macet, dan jadinya banyak orang ga peduli juga demonya ngomongin apa.

Plis deh….