Driving in (Jakarta) Indonesia - Part 2

(see also my related article - "Part 1")

Transportation in Jakarta

Not worth risking your life on ! 

Even if you have your own passenger car or driver and you are the safest, most defensive driver out there; you are still at great risk and constant danger because of all the other IDIOTS, ojeks, angkots, bajaj and overall lack of any safety (or exhaust emissions) inspections of passenger or commercial vehicles on the roads in Indonesia.   

It’s also a common occurrence to find motorbikes (who seem to rule and own the roadways) driving in the opposite direction towards you on the wrong side of the road. You’re expected to move out their way and yield the right of way to them nevertheless though !!  Entering a roadway is another matter; the person entering the roadway seems to have the right of way as they just pull out and into the road directly in your line of travel without looking or caring.  So actually, you should be yielding the right of way to them and expect that no one will follow or obey rules of the road or traffic laws here.  

People also have no concept of "blind spots" here by use of rear or side view mirrors.  Their peripheral vision extends to basically just a small arch directly in front of them. So, if you're along side or about to pass or overtake another car or motorbike, it is common for them to just cut in your direct path or go anywhere they want to.  The motorbikes actually do it intentionally knowing that a driver's natural reaction or reflex will be to tap or hit the brake giving them just the inch or millimeter they need to cut you in or off. If they don't see you, you're not there and they don't care.  Actually, even if they do see you they still don't care and will do whatever they want.  

If you get into an accident with a motorbike and you're driving a passenger car, regardless of how STUPID the person is who caused the accident, you the driver are at fault !  You are seen as the privileged haves, and they are the have-nots.  If the motorbike rider or passenger(s) are killed, you'll just have to pay money to the family(ies) so they can go out and buy their remaining or future offspring more motorbikes.  It's also common to see children riding motorbikes here, of course with their little friends or buddies on back.  I am convinced infants and children actually grow up on motorbikes or "ojeks" here.  It's simply just a way of life here.

The situation here as I describe from first hand experience has also been corroborated by others.  If you don't believe me, or think I am exaggerating, read this.  

Snippets of recent news:

Last week Transportation Ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan admitted that many of the ministry’s inspectors had not performed well and had contributed to a string of accidents involving public transportation vehicles. House transportation commission deputy chief Nusyirwan Soejono said that the lack of monitoring by the ministry was the main reason why bus companies do not carry out frequent vehicle maintenance. Sunday’s Slipi Jaya accident certainly was preventable had the Mayasari bus driver – as so many public transport drivers do – not only entered a designated TransJakarta lane but drove in a dangerous manner whilst on it. Just when, may we ask, will Jakarta’s authorities fulfill their many promises to keep private vehicles out of Busway lanes? What are the licensing criteria for public bus drivers and who monitors it? How about the much-publicized campaigns to eradicate unlicensed Minivans and ensure drivers were uniformed and clearly indicate identity for passengers? It only needs a cursory glance at passing Angkot and Mikrolet to see that probably 90% of drivers are not wearing any uniform, but one can only guess at the vehicle’s license status. Come-on authorities – wake-up and do your job before more are killed!

There seems to be no end in sight to the spate of deadly bus crashes which hit Java over the past weeks with News on Monday of a Mayasari Bhakti bus causing multiple crashes early that morning near the Kampung Rambutan bus terminal, claiming one life and severely injuring another. “The bus suddenly hit a taxi and then bumped into another taxi. The bus didn’t stop, but went on to hit a motorbike, a street vendor’s cart and a public minivan. The minivan subsequently hit another motorbike,” Adj. Sr. Comr. Sudharsono said as quoted by tempo.co. Just a day before, a Mayasari bus plying the Kampung Rambutan-Kalideres route hit a Transjakarta bus at the Slipi Jaya, West Jakarta, bus stop. The Mayasari, which entered the busway lane, rammed the bus from behind.

Religious Freedom or "Pluralism" in Indonesia ?

Does not exist !  Period.

There is not freedom of religion, or freedom from it, in Indonesia. Period, end of story!

The beleaguered Christian GKI Yasim Church in Bogor is a prime example.  Christians' right to worship there as [supposedly] protected by the Indonesian Constitution has been impeded by continued harassment and intimidation (a form of terrorism) by crowds of Islamic hard-liners. 

Although the Supreme Court of Indonesia and an Ombudsman rendered advisory opinions to the mayor of Bogor to re-open the GKI Yasim Church, which the Mayor of Bogor had closed down in 2008, neither President SBY nor the Minister of Religious Affairs will get involved as of this date to uphold and affirm the Constitutional protection [supposedly] afforded to Christians to worship freely.

When the Minister of Religious Affairs was asked to intervene, he said that it was not his concern or issue and refused to get involved.  If it's not his concern, then whose in the #@%& is it !!   Tell me now that there is religious freedom and pluralism in Indonesia?  It simply does not exist and is an ideological fantasy.      

This latest snippet of news below only compounds my previous article concerning this matter, however. 

My "Nostradomusian" prediction:  There will be civil wars (an oxymoron by the way, LOL) and "Holy Wars" (another oxymoron) in Indonesia in the not too distant future as all this continues to percolate or come to a boil in the social, cultural and political cauldron of this country. 

Here's an article appearing in What's New Jakarta publication:

E-KTP Programmed to Now Make Allowance for Citizens Outside Six Official Religions:

In what has to be a bold step and surely will not be without controversy as militant religious groups mushroom across the archipelago, the government plans to allow people who do not identify with any of the six official religions to leave the religion column on their identity cards blank, the Home Affairs Ministry says. The change is meant to put the country’s pluralistic founding principles into practice by offering a solution for people who have often felt marginalized by government policy due to their minority religious affiliations. “Believers in local religions, for instance, don’t have to fill out the religion column on their identity cards if they don’t want to. Just leave it empty,” Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi said after opening a meeting on electronic identity cards, or e-KTP, in Jakarta on Monday, and reported by The Jakarta Globe. The existing law requires that every Indonesian citizen hold an identity card identifying them as one of these six religions. The country also does not recognize agnosticism or atheism. Gamawan said he would invite related officials, including Minister of Religious Affairs Suryadharma Ali, to finalize the proposal. The plan, however, will be discussed further with the Ministry of Religious Affairs before being floated to the public.

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Another Related Article:

President Yudhoyono has been Urged to Show Leadership in Yasmin Saga:

Although Lawmakers Eva Kusuma Sundari and Lily Wahid - sister of the late president Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid - have visited the Christian congregation in recent weekends to demonstrate their support for the congregation’s right to worship free of harassment by increasingly aggressive crowds of Islamic hard-liners, there has still been nothing heard from SBY – President Yudhoyono.

The president is now being challenged to uphold both his obligation as the head of state and his personal promise to resolve the increasingly untenable situation affecting Bogor’s GKI Yasmin church congregation. Rumadi, the program coordinator at think tank the Wahid Institute, said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had made a promise to church leaders when they met him at his residence in Bogor late last year. “You said you would make a personal visit to resolve the Yasmin church conflict. Your officials, the mayor of Bogor and related ministers have already shown that they cannot solve it themselves. Mr. President, you must fulfill your promise immediately,” Rumadi said at a news conference on Sunday and reported by The Jakarta Globe.

On Sunday, Lily Wahid remonstrated with protestors from the Indonesian Muslim Communication Forum (Forkami) and the Islamic Reform Movement (Garis) who surrounded a Bogor home where Yasmin congregation members were worshipping. She has previously said the president must step in to tell Bogor Mayor Diani Budiarto to abide by a year-old Supreme Court ruling ordering him to reopen the Yasmin Church, which his administration has sealed off since 2008. Last Sunday saw a well-organised group of Islamist protesters with professionally produced signs and almost certainly not from the Bogor area disrupted yet another Prayer Service – this time in the private residence of a member of the Yasmin community.

How Would You Describe Indonesian Cuisine?

Source: Wikipedia

Indonesian cuisine is diverse, in part because Indonesia is composed of approximately 6,000 populated islands. Many regional cuisines exist, often based upon cultural and foreign influences. Indonesian cuisine varies greatly by region and has many different influences. 

Throughout its history, Indonesia has been involved in trade due to its location and natural resources. Additionally, Indonesia’s indigenous techniques and ingredients were influenced by India, the Middle East, China, and finally Europe. Spanish and Portuguese traders brought New World produce even before the Dutch came to colonize most of the archipelago. The Indonesian islands The Moluccas (Maluku), which are famed as "the Spice Islands", also contributed to the introduction of native spices, such as cloves and nutmeg, to Indonesian and global cuisine.

Some popular Indonesian dishes such as nasi goreng, gado-gado, sate, and soto are ubiquitous in the country and considered as Indonesian national dishes.

Indonesian Chili Peppers - Hot Sauce

The Indonesians definitely like their food spicy, or more precisely with some very hot chile that's up there on the SHU (Scoville Heat Units) scale.



In addition to Jakarta being referred to as "The Big Durian" (you either love it or hate it!); Indonesian is after all known throughout the world as the "Spice Islands." 

"Sambal" is a chili based sauce that is widely served as a condiment with meals in Indonesia. For the uninitiated or neophyte chili aficionado, these can pack quite a punch; so be careful what you eat with your rice or "nasi" here in Indonesian or what you sprinkle or spoon out over your dish.  It may look like a benign condiment, but if you're not careful or weary what's on your plate or dish you could be in for a real awakening!

       

If you go to a U.S. franchise type of restaurant like Pizza Hut, Burger King, McDonald's, etc don't expect to be served Heinz or Delmonte style red tomato ketchup with those french fries - rather you'll be served the standard orangy "saos sambal" or chili sauce in little packets or from the self serve pump dispenser and you'll have to ask for regular tomato ketchup.