....."agar machlum adanya"
CNN sends in Peter Arnett. This is, however, a logical assignment for him, as he was posted here in the runup to the last change in government in 1965. All Indonesians I talked to agree this is theworst disturbance since 1965, and history is definitely in the making.
I drove around the city Friday afternoon. If I had not known where to go, I could easily have missed any sign of the rioting. As it was, the damage seemed to be selective. Even in the worst-hit areas, many shops were unscathed. Chinatown, though, showed no signs of discrimination. Harco, the City Hotel and the shops to the south were completely blackened. Almost all shops were at least looted, and generally burned, down to Gajah Mada Plaza.
Contrary to rumors about the Suharto children's great glass monoliths being set ablaze, outside of Glodok there was no damage to any major office buildings, except for a few stoned or gutted bank branches.
Signs were posted on shops and buildings like protective talismans. Most stated that the shop or building was owned by indigenous Indonesians and supported reformation. The McDonalds on Thamrin was festooned with full Islamic prayers draped across the windows. The Ramadan curtains — which shield good Muslims from the sight of infidels and apostates wolfing down cheeseburgers during the fasting month — were closed for good measure. It seems to have worked, though I wonder how many of the rioters can read.
The military was everywhere, guarding the damaged shops against further looting or just holding back crowds of the curious. The public seems to differentiate between the riot police, who are the primary suspects in the shooting of the student protesters that sparked Thursday's riots, and the army and marine troops now controlling the city. Crowds wave and cheer at the in armored personnel carriers patrolling the streets; gangs of street kids clamber over tanks parked at the major intersections.
The Jakarta regional commander neatly summed up ABRI's position during a pep talk on Thursday night. He instructed his troops to act according to the situation. He said: "If you see a student with a protest banner on campus, smile and wave; if you see a mother and child abandoned along the road, give them a ride; and if you see a someone running down the street carrying a TV set, shoot him." He actually said 'fire a warning shot,' but the intention was clear.
The American embassy called for an evacuation of all American residents at about noon on Friday. Although I'm sure they were just being prudent, I suspect the embassy is full of guys too young for Vietnam who long be loadmaster on the last chopper out of Jakarta, and maybe get their photo on the cover of TIME punching out some Indonesian driver as he tries to claim the last seat. However, the Hercules transports, or whatever they use these days to airlift civilians, were a no-show, leaving hundreds of Americans sitting around assembly points looking foolish as the Jakarta began another day of peace and quiet.
As much as the last few days has reiterated the local hatred of the Chinese, it has shown the ambivalent attitude Indonesians have toward Westerners. By nightfall on Thursday, rioters had set up roadblocks at several toll booths on the outskirts of Jakarta. But they seemed mostly interested in Orientals — Chinese and Koreans — and let others pass. The TV stations interviewed several Koreans who were beat up and robbed as they were returning from out of town. The CNN crew was stopped on the airport toll. The cameras were locked in the trunk, and the crew debated whether to pull them out and hope the locals were favorably disposed toward the media. On the other hand, they might have lost the cameras as well, so the crew just stood by while the rioters battered the car, then let them pass.
At the other end of town, I walked from the expatriate enclave of Kemang to my home in
Central Jakarta just after nightfall, wearing the black armband signifying my solidarity
with the student protesters. I generated favorable comment the entire way, including
friendly greetings, thumbs-up gestures and a marriage proposal, though that was from a
creature of ambiguous gender standing in the shadows of the Kebayoran cemetery. Many
resident foreigners found themselves forced into hard choices about their future. In an
environment were taking the easy way out is de rigueur, they now had only hours to make a
momentous decision. Not surprisingly, most decided to
stay. Some injected a little drama into the occasion, waiting until their name was about
to be entered on the evac flight manifest before marching out of the assembly point, but
most, in good Indonesian fashion, just hunkered down at home and hoped for the best.
Others took cultural assimilation to new heights. One young European backpacker was
spotted joining looters cleaning out a shop in Jl Sabang. Another unconfirmed report tells
of looters breaking into the home of another long-term foreign resident, married to an
Indonesian and supporting a large family on an English teacher's barely adequate wages.
When the gang leader saw the ratty furniture and broken-down appliances, he reportedly
said: "You need anything, mister? We have TV's, gas ranges..."
No account of Indonesian social unrest is complete without the exploits of Sita Wachjo,
my favorite Javanese princess. Just as 1965 found her sheltering entire Chinese families
in her shipyard on the Jakarta waterfront, staring down a murderous rabble intent on
killing all Chinese,
in 1998 she and her crew of Bugis shipwrights held off the mob of day-late looters
approaching her small boat building facility in the southern suburbs. Afterward, she
pasted a sign to gate saying the property was owned by a native Indonesian and a haji
— a Muslim who has made the obligatory pilgrimage to Mecca.
Although a sign like this usually means: "I'm not Chinese, leave me alone,' in this
case, the sign might as well say: "This property is protected by Raden Roro Sita
Wachjo. Enter at your own risk."
**************************************************
Jeremy Allan,
katfilm@centrin.net.id
We know we are in trouble when we start getting e-mails from you. That
"creature" in the Kebayoran cemetery is my third husband. How dare you. What
were you doing lurking in the shadows (like Leonee Lubak) anyway? I don't know : one
minute they're hacks, the next
minute they're competition!! And don't think all this fuss is just for you to get a gas
range!!
Why don't you put up a sign : "Ratty hack seeks Solo princess for heavy conjugal??"
Yours, from behind the planter box,
I.B. Hitler
Cc : John Darling
Sanur, Sunday: Linda Garland had a hot flush and took out the air-conditioning at the Bali Beach.
Ubud, Sunday: (The Ibah lunch with Basil; Cok. in Pita Maha medals): Col. Helmi from the militant rag-trade fraction tells of apprehending Menteng NYONYAS trying to flush their sunglasses down the loo as reformists advanced.
STOPP PRESS: "Come on Mabel, the bus is waiting'. Ex-pat. Housewives pried off their drivers as the Bangkas are bled of the "es the silahkan" set.
Other: We know we are in trouble when Jeremy Allan sends an E-mail.
Love, from the trenches,
Made
In a terse statement on the occasion of her 50th birthday Asmoro Damais, titular head of Col. Helmi's crack rag-trade faction, announced today that Idanna Pucci had a hot flush in front of Megawati.
"These bules" she complained are just too in touch with their bodies…….I mean, we Indonesians never make a fuss". Storm in a D-cup : Bali, 1400 hrs.
8000 students at the Udayana Campus voted to dispatch a jumbo jet to the love nest of the Queen of Bamboe, deep in the Jamaican jungle. : "We need her to liberate all the Javanese furniture shops from the communists" Col. Helmi was quoted at 1300 hours, Denpasar time, "so the remaining expats have something to do".
"My driver's on holiday" moaned Joannie Anting-Dagang of Antwerp as she stuffed her face with the last fois gras on the island.
Karangasem, 1530 hrs:
Woolite hieress Carole Muller mis-heard the call to put water outside her gate and put her knickers out instead. A purification rite for the neighbouring "Dunkin' Donuts" has been slated for the next new moon.
Yours, from behind the planter box,
Made
Stop Press : John Harding was apprehended fleeing the country, with 3,000 spotty dick bottle openers. "I could buy you" he was heard screaming at the SQ agent as he was dragged to the Bali Cliff for a cheese-tasting.
