Joe Seow: Bombing and after, July 2009

Taken from Joe Seow’s facebook notes, something to ponder between the whole #indonesiaunite movement.

The day after bombings in Jakarta and all the TV stations are back to business with the usual infotainment (celebrity gossip ala “E” Channel), their drama serials (what they call “sinetrons”) etcetra etcetra. Analysis and in-depth research into the causes of these recent blasts are lacking. TV stations - again - appear to treat their viewers with contempt for they feel that the general public (ratings!) are only interested in sensational news rather than insights into the hows and whys. They will rather insult the intelligence of their viewers than to provide viewers with professional journalism. Same for the printed media.

Friends on Facebook and Twitter condemn the bombings; condemn acts of terrorism which will only hurt this country and its people, especially in the face of the current global economic crisis. Fingers are pointed at Jemaiah Islamiah and losers in the recent Presidential elections. Everyone is chipping in and commenting on what happened, what should have happened and what could have happened. Indonesians seem to have resigned to the fact that their country will always be a target of terrorism, vested interests and politicking. So sad ….

What’s next? We all wonder.

Is this a prelude to another Iran after the Presidential elections? Or is this another worldwide attention grabbing stunt to bomb the hotel where Manchester United is supposed to be staying for their (now cancelled) exhibition game against Indonesia’s selected XI? Is this a warning to the newly-elected President that “all is not “hunky-dory” with his overwhelming majority win?

We will never know.

But what we do know is that Indonesians are typically complacent people. Security forces go thru the motion of checking bags especially when guests disguise themselves as important people or when they alight from expensive limousines. Enter parking lots in a Jaguar or Mercedes or BMW and you are waved through. Enter buildings with a suit and tie and they will profile you as a “low risk” person. A friend of mine told me once that even the American ambassador’s car (can’t disclose this country, sorry) is screened from boot to bottom each time he re-enters the embassy for there is always this chance that he parked his car in a public place, driver distracted while someone plants a bomb underneath his car. Prudence! Erring on the side of caution is definitely better than dealing with dismantled bodyparts after a blast. But why can’t the average Indonesian security personnel understand and/or practise that?

Well to start with, there are lots of pseudo important people who feel that inspecting their cars is an insult. I once pulled up behind a semi-luxurious limo at a 5-star hotel and the passenger in front will not open her door or wind down her window for inspection - waited 3 minutes for the guard to convince her that she wasn’t going to get past that barrier unless they can see what’s in her car. Stupid. She must have felt that she belonged to a different class - higher than the average Indonesian - who should not be subjected to the humilation of being inspected at the barrier.

There are also times when a “government” vehicle passes thru the security without stopping. That reminds me of an incident on New Year’s eve a few years ago where an important person managed to walk thru security at a 5-star hotel with his pistol and ended up shooting a waiter he was displeased with. Nothing much was heard of this cold blooded murder, of course.

Indonesia is a civilisation headed for “more civic” ways; but there are still mindsets which ought to be “reset” or “rebooted” like any computer, iPhone or Blackberry. My question is when?

When will Indonesians from all walks of life and all statures realise that civilian laws and rules are what they should conform to? When will Indonesians feel that all Indonesians are created equal and no one of them should be above another citizen? When will the Generals accept the fact that they will be treated equally like the ibu/guy delivering pizzas or manning the “warteg”? When will Parliamentarians give due respect to the constituents who elected them and walk shoulder to shoulder with them (other than in a campaign with plenty of TV cameras and photographers around)?

That is affluence and maturity, I suppose.

Affluence isn’t about achieving 6 or 8 or 10 percent growth. Economic growth and wealth without civility doesn’t mean we’re out of the Stone Age. Having money to buy a motorcycle (albeit on credit) does not mean one is a civilised and courteous road user deserving of the roads built with taxes the others pay. Weaving in and out of traffic and making larger vehicles brake incessantly burns up more gasoline and increases the carbon footprint which affects the environment that our children will grow up in.

Providing for your children isn’t just about borrowing money from your boss to pay for your child to enrol into the next year. Its not about bringing your kids to Dufan over the weekend or buying them McDonalds or Baskin Robbins. It’s about what you endow them with and how you make them good citizens of the future. Surely the three decades of dicatatorship and the “zero tolerance to dissent” ought to have been “done and be over with” considering we’ve had 10+ years of democracy.

Is it the lack of will or the lack of imagination? Is it so difficult to change one’s mindset?

A communist country like China with 1.2 billion people is changing. Look at what happened to the attempt to make it mandatory to install “censorship” or “web monitoring software” on all computers (the “Green Dam” they call it) and how public opinion forced the government to back off!

Indonesian’s sympathy for the housewife who was thrown into jail for a complaint about service at a hospital speaks for itself. It works. Indonesians can do more, I believe! Indonesians can have more of a stake in the way they want their country to be administered, I believe, without having to resort to anarchic or violent means. I’m not qualified to give advice to my Indonesian friends; but I wish to encourage all of my friends to think hard. It isnt’ going to be easy but if an attempt is made at starting the ball rolling, we will reach critical mass one day.