A Time of Living Dangerously?
Travel Stories: Stories of unrest in Jakarta run almost daily on CNN and BBC. Chuck Newman and Chris Dickson, however, aren't yet ready to flee.
10.18.01 | 12:55 AM ET
On the streets of Jakarta, Indonesia, a month after the terrorist attacks on the U.S., the smell of petrol and kretek cigarettes still pervades. The weather still stifles the most ambitious travelers, and the traffic still speeds at the pace of a traditional Wayan puppet show. The local warungs still dish out daily portions of nasi goring. The crowded discos still bellow with the latest in hip-hop, trance and techno.
Jakarta, in short, continues to be Jakarta.
The Western media paints a different picture of the capital of the Muslim world’s most populous country. Fervent street demonstrations. Burning of effigies. Carjacks. Assaults. The promise of jihad. Certainly there have been signs of unrest, but they have been isolated and restricted. Calm and serenity are more prevalent than fear and chaos. At least for us. We are teachers at the International School and what we have witnessed is far different from the images in the newspapers and on the CNN and BBC networks.
The big anti-America demonstration that organizers had promised to be 15,000 strong garnered an enthusiastic but relatively miniscule 2,400 university students. Though they voiced their discontent and displeasure with America’s response and promise to eliminate Bin Laden, it was done in a relatively peaceful manner. It was, in a sense, very American. The student leaders threatened American and ex-pat workers, but these seem to be idle promises.
We, however, are not blind. We are watching the events unfold with that poised, uneasy intentness of a group of wildebeest debating movement in the Serengeti plain. Yet, like most locals, we choose to continue with our lives. Last weekend we visited a couple of local bars and discos. Bob Marley’s “One Love” echoed throughout a crowded street. We spent one day at the Jakarta Hilton Hotel with friends, sipping bottles of Fosters and eating meat pies while watching the Australian Football League Championship amid hundreds of pisshead Aussies. We think the local pharmacies probably did a roaring trade in aspirin the following morning.
The problems we have to deal with, mostly, are the daily glitches and problems that are always associated with living amid another culture in the developing world. The things done with relative efficiency and ease in the States are often torture here. Try opening a bank account or transferring money. Better yet, try communicating to a local mechanic the need for a new fan belt for your car. And ordering pizza from Pizza Hut? Just make sure you don’t order a Mexican pizza on a Sunday. For some reason they will deliver pizzas on Sunday as long as they are not of the Mexican variety.
The immediate future remains ambiguous, but we are hopeful. A new president has been elected and the state’s police corps and security have been strengthened. The people, from what we have been able to glimpse, prefer peace and harmony. We hope that together they can all bring further stability, and that our biggest worries remain mixed-up pizza orders.
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