Plis Deh Jakarta!

An ojek driver was caught carrying 998 ecstasy pills by the police in a spot check in North Jakarta.

Perhaps he wasn’t riding in a straight line? No, that can’t be it, since most motorcyclists in Jakarta don’t ride in a straight line anyway.

So you think those ATMs are built like mini bank-vaults, eh? That’s true, actually; it’s very hard to break in an ATM machine and get all the money out, at least in the amount of time the authorities wouldn’t have noticed. So these guys just took the whole thing so they could pick it apart in peace somewhere.

It’s either that, or they just intend to sell the whole ATM machine to someone…

Similar to the much-hyped Bu Prita versus RS Omni International case, there is another case where somebody bought a shophouse (ruko) from ITC Mangga Dua, in which he was apparently led to believe that he had purchased full rights to the land, when in fact he had only purchased usage rights. After asking for clarity on the issue, he was ignored, then threatened, which led him to write to 2 national newspapers complaining of his case.

He has now been sued by ITC Mangga Dua’s management for… defamation. He has previously lost a civil lawsuit, and now faces the criminal charges.

Hey, we don’t know yet who is right or wrong, but the defamation law is apparently becoming popular…

A subdistrict police chief was among the several officers arrested by a police raid aimed at ‘bad cops’. After a few police members routinely failed to show up at morning briefing sessions, they did a little digging and found out that the arrested police officers were ‘havng too much fun at the nightclubs’.

Boys will be boys, I guess, even with stripes on the cuff.

So tomorrow, the city government will attempt to restart the smoking ban that supposedly is already in effect, yet ignored by many Jakartans.

In light of the recent alleged ban on Facebook, perhaps it is just simpler to ban everything instead of educating and reasoning. If people don’t understand why there is a ban, people wouldn’t care as much. Then again, all the reasoning in the world still hasn’t persuaded many Jakartans to wear helmets when riding motorcycles, either, except in the presence of police. Maybe there will be teams of police raiding smokers? Ha!

The government has set up five anticorruption centers in various places in Jakarta. They say that the centers are used to give information on how to fight corruption, and as a preventive measure to encourage anticorruption in the youth.

Why does it sound ridiculous to me? Would it be some guy sitting at a desk or a counter, feeling bored, while offering people brochures designed with Powerpoint on how to tackle corruption? Sounds more like a PR stunt rather than a real effort to fight corruption.

Tangerang has agreed to allocate land for construction of a garbage processing site for Jakarta’s trash. So Tangerang will turn away couples looking for a place to have premarital sex and even women walking alone at night, but will accept trash.

The Tangerang authorities really know how to make their city comfortable, don’t they?

Monday morning, Bulungan intersection near RSPP. I am waiting for the red light, and the roads are comparitively empty. Suddenly, a dark green late-model Mitsubishi passes me on the left, runs the red light, and goes along his way.

I look at the plates – it’s a police car, complete with the police insignia.

If the police don’t care about the traffic lights, I guess I shouldn’t either

The police are cracking down on public transports, or angkot, that do not drop off their passengers properly at the routes’ terminals. They are also encouraging citizens to report any public transports that do not do this.

Um, Mr Officer, can we also report when those angkots crash into our vehicles and run away? Will you be enforcing obedience of traffic laws? That seems to be a more pertinent problem.

Imagine rolling hillsides side-by-side with tea plantations, encircled by really big, posh houses, all empty. Imagine virtually only one major road connecting that area to the city, and imagine it only being filled with people on the weekends – with their cars of course, creating weekly traffic jams that aren’t even news anymore.

Done imagining? Yep, it’s Puncak. These hillsides, which are naturally supposed to be water catchment areas, are instead filled with big, empty houses owned by really rich people, and are usually empty during the week and rented out during the weekend. Talk about the needs of the few going above the needs of the many – the burst of villas in the 1980s in the Puncak area has caused unchecked development, and, yes, eventually, more water coming down the rivers to flood Jakarta because it is not absorbed enough by the plants that are still there.

So a 20-year overdue crackdown on these villas is coming. When? We don’t know yet, as finally the authorities have the smarts to not reveal the schedule. Well, at least something is being done.

The Tangerang government is holding weekly searches to hotels in the town area in search of ‘adulterers’, alcohol and ‘illegal prostitution’. Oh, is there ‘legal prostitution’?

Anyway.

Many non-married couples were caught in non-star hotels, registered before being sent home, and the hotels were also searched for alcoholic drinks, as part of the enforcement of 2005 bylaws banning adultery, premarital sex and alcohol. Bear in mind that these same bylaws practically forbid female citizens to walk alone at night in fear of suspicion of prostitution.

A city public order agency official states that these actions are to avoid Tangerang becoming into a city of prostitution and alcoholic beverage sales, keeping in line with the city’s motto, “good morals”.

Well, I’m no advocate of alcohol or premarital sex, but seriously, aren’t there more serious issues to handle? Like, real crime?

Four prisoners escaped from the Ciracas detention center last Friday, and walking out of the centre, walking, out unlocked doors and gates. Even when other prisoners shouted, trying to get attention of the security guards – doing who knows what – the security guards didn’t budge.

Erm, what’s the point to a jail where all the doors and gates are unlocked?

Jadi, anak-anak sekolah kan udah itungannya 2 minggu masuk lebih pagi, demi usaha mengurangi kemacetan… tapi, sebenernya ngefek nggak sih? Silakan isi survei di bawah, dan kalau ada komentar lain kasih komentar aja di artikel ini.

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