Jakarta - Despite The Attacks

July 17, 2009
Visited 211 times, 1 so far today

This morning breaking news of the twin bombing in Jakarta was shocking.

To think that we were in this city just last month! Even though Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriot would be a huge splurge for us, had it been closer to the National Monument, there was a possibility that we might have chosen to stay at either of these hotels then.

But perhaps with Jakarta’s history of attacks, staying in hotels such as the Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriot is dabbling with fate. Even at the hotel we chose, with its proximity to a few embassies, the tight security did little to comfort us - not when we were told that they were bomb checks.

I confronted a taxi driver who drove us from Taman Mini back to our hotel, a journey of 25 km which took an hour, on why are Indonesians so emotional.

Street protests with flag burnings and bombings - something that happen more times in Indonesia than in Malaysia, much less Brunei.

He apologized before he explained at length that Indonesians in general are peace loving. They dislike any kind of disruptions and condemned these groups - which he assured me was a small minority - for their actions as with the rest of the world.

This was concurred in a book I bought, “Indonesia - The Magical Isles” (G. Mirpuri & R. Cooper).

“Generally the people of Indonesia hate confrontation, preferring to hide negative feelings such as jealousy and anger. They do not complain or shout, but cope with stress by smiling and quietly withdrawing.”

Except on the road - where horn blaring and highlight flashing seemed to be the norm, I did noticed these traits on most of the Jakarta-nians.

For one thing, I had never encountered a more courteous and helpful people as those in Jakarta. Rare was it that I entered any place without being greeted with a “Silakan Bu” (Help yourself Madam) or “Selamat Siang” (Good day).

I personally admire their gentle and sing-song way of speaking - something so distinctive that one Kadazandusun family I know who spent several years in Bogor, retained  these gracious way of speaking and made them stood out amongst other Sabahans.

So while these sort of suicide bombing incidents will strengthened negative opinions of Indonesians as a whole, having had the pleasure of being around common Indonesians who displayed a somewhat better attitude than our own people, it helps to remind me that, as stressed by our taxi driver, these are selfish acts by a small minority who are confused with their beliefs and objectives.

It was unfortunate that such tragedy happened in Jakarta again.

But I am sure that with the resilient spirit of the people, the city will pick itself up quickly and continued to be as I remembered it - interesting and a pleasure to visit.

Posted in Thoughts