Standards of Security, East and West
Byron Black
austin-ghetto-list@pairlist.net
Sun May 16 05:48:07 2004
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I routinely see five-year-old female children walking by themselves from =
home to school. Or alternatively, entrusted by their mothers to the =
neighborhood ojek [motorcycle taxi] riders to whisk off in the morning.
A fanatic walker and thirty-year-runner (now perhaps amended to =
'hobbler') I have upon more than one occasion strolled to my riverside =
home in Condet, East Jakarta, from Semanggi (Central Business District, =
maybe 18km.) starting at 11.00pm and arriving at 01.30. In what other =
major third-world (or first-world!) urban conglomeration of 15 million =
souls could you do that, without running at least some degree of risk? =
Here, I am routinely greeted by lounging street youths or itinerant =
sellers as I bop along, with the inevitable 'Hello, Mister!' or 'Mau ke =
mana?' or 'Where are you going?' which is really a greeting, not a =
question. I must say by way of explanation that I go out of my way to be =
genial and talkative, waving and speaking to strangers, even when I'm =
hot and thirsty and it's midnight with no cold drink in sight down the =
darkness. Avoiding an arrogant stance and demonstrating simple humanity =
goes a long way toward enhancing one's security, I've found. Or acting =
goofy (my own specialty). (But not in New York, where eye contact is =
always avoided, one gives another broad surround space, locals routinely =
ignore requests for directions or assistance. I felt like I was in Robot =
Towne).
Crimes of property are rife in this desperately poor country. A guy down =
the way lost his motorcycle from in front of his house the evening =
before last. Parked it in front, went inside to eat, failed to lock it. =
Some enterprising thief grabbed it, hotwired it (the keys may have been =
in the ignition for all I know) and absquatulated. The bike may have =
been nicked by a guy desperate to feed his own kids, for all I know.
This motorcycle was the sole means of support for a family of about =
four. I'm pals with the elder son, for whose female toddler I buy milk =
mix, and the younger son, who has now won a scholarship to university. =
Luckily he was buying it on credit so there was some degree of coverage =
from theft insurance -- but not 100%.
Crimes of property, yes. Crimes of violence, exceedingly rare, =
considering the miseries, hardships, and cheek-by-jowl way most =
Indonesians live (as I write this, at 5.40 Sunday morning, I look out =
over a flat panoply of green, trees and banana plants, across the river. =
Not a soul to be seen, and only a couple of roofs peeping through the =
foliage. I consider myself lucky to be here).
CNN (Chicken Noodle Network) pounces on stories like the continuing =
religious / ethnic quarrels in Ambon because they sell chicken noodles. =
If you want to see a fairly representative selection of notable news =
events from across the globe I suggest you check out www.fark.com and =
count the number of stories emanating from Indonesia. Very, very few, =
and mostly about oddities, not violence. Compare that with the usual =
stream of exciting events from Houston, Detroit, Washington, Miami, and =
so on.
The anti-Islamic rant'n'rave* is really unnecessary. I live almost =
exclusively with Muslims (a couple of Christian pals too, and a Balinese =
Hindu family I've been close with since 1991), and have yet to find more =
tolerant, philosophical, generally good-humored peoples, either in South =
America, Europe (whew) or north Asia (spent many years in Japan: =
'Moonbase'). As far as I am concerned the Big Three desert religions are =
all pretty nutty, and are led by nuts, all with crazy agendas.
No, Indonesia might turn out to be one of the more tolerable places to =
ride out the merriment in coming years, if it doesn't fall to pieces, a =
la Yugo (and it very well may, alas).=20
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<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>I routinely see five-year-old female =
children=20
walking by themselves from home to school. Or alternatively, entrusted =
by their=20
mothers to the neighborhood <EM>ojek </EM>[motorcycle taxi] riders to =
whisk off=20
in the morning.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>A fanatic walker and thirty-year-runner =
(now=20
perhaps amended to 'hobbler') I have upon more than one occasion =
strolled to my=20
riverside home in Condet, East Jakarta, from Semanggi (Central =
Business=20
District, maybe 18km.) starting at 11.00pm and arriving at 01.30. In =
what other=20
major third-world (or first-world!) urban conglomeration of 15 =
million=20
souls could you do that, without running at least some degree of risk?=20
Here, I am routinely greeted by lounging street youths or itinerant =
sellers=20
as I bop along, with the inevitable 'Hello, Mister!' or <EM>'Mau ke=20
mana?'</EM> or 'Where are you going?' which is really a greeting, =
not a=20
question. I must say by way of explanation that I go out of my way =
to be=20
genial and talkative, waving and speaking to strangers, even when I'm =
hot and=20
thirsty and it's midnight with no cold drink in sight down the darkness. =
Avoiding an arrogant stance and demonstrating simple humanity goes a =
<EM>long=20
</EM>way toward enhancing one's security, I've found. Or acting goofy =
(my own=20
specialty). (But not in New York, where eye contact is always avoided, =
one gives=20
another broad surround space, locals routinely ignore requests for =
directions or=20
assistance. I felt like I was in Robot Towne).</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Crimes of property are rife in this =
desperately=20
poor country. A guy down the way lost his motorcycle from in front of =
his house=20
the evening before last. Parked it in front, went inside to eat, failed =
to lock=20
it. Some enterprising thief grabbed it, hotwired it (the keys may have =
been in=20
the ignition for all I know) and absquatulated. The bike may have been =
nicked by=20
a guy desperate to feed his own kids, for all I know.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>This motorcycle was the sole means of =
support for a=20
family of about four. I'm pals with the elder son, for whose female =
toddler I=20
buy milk mix, and the younger son, who has now won a scholarship to =
university.=20
Luckily he was buying it on credit so there was some degree of coverage =
from=20
theft insurance -- but not 100%.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Crimes of property, yes. Crimes of =
violence,=20
exceedingly rare, considering the miseries, hardships, and cheek-by-jowl =
way=20
most Indonesians live (as I write this, at 5.40 Sunday morning, I look =
out over=20
a flat panoply of green, trees and banana plants, across the river. Not =
a soul=20
to be seen, and only a couple of roofs peeping through the foliage. I =
consider=20
myself lucky to be here).</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>CNN (Chicken Noodle Network) pounces on =
stories=20
like the continuing religious / ethnic quarrels in Ambon because they =
sell=20
chicken noodles. If you want to see a fairly representative selection of =
notable=20
news events from across the globe I suggest you check out <A=20
href=3D"http://www.fark.com">www.fark.com</A> and count the number of =
stories=20
emanating from Indonesia. Very, very few, and mostly about oddities, not =
violence. Compare that with the usual stream of exciting events from =
Houston,=20
Detroit, Washington, Miami, and so on.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>The anti-Islamic rant'n'rave* is really =
unnecessary. I live almost exclusively with Muslims (a couple of =
Christian pals=20
too, and a Balinese Hindu family I've been close with since 1991), and =
have yet=20
to find more tolerant, philosophical, generally good-humored peoples, =
either in=20
South America, Europe (whew) or north Asia (spent many years in Japan:=20
'Moonbase'). As far as I am concerned the Big Three desert religions are =
all=20
pretty nutty, and are led by nuts, all with crazy agendas.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>No, Indonesia might turn out to be one =
of the more=20
tolerable places to ride out the merriment in coming years, if it =
doesn't fall=20
to pieces, a la Yugo (and it very well may, =
alas).</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial =
size=3D2>BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>
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