Lynn Lee on recent rallies in Jakarta that weren't just about Israel and Gaza.
In Jakarta
HUNDREDS of Indonesians - mostly university students and members of Islamic religious groups - have been staging protests against Israel's aggression towards Gaza for the past week.
On Friday, it was the turn of thousands from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), an up-and-coming Islamic political party that pundits will be watching closely in the April legislative election.
The party, which has cleverly branded itself as a moderate Islamic party championing anti-corruption and good governance, took slightly over 7 per cent or 8.3 million votes in the 2004 polls. Some analysts have predicted that they could double this result this time round.
While the plight of Palestinians was the focus on Friday, the gathering smacked of a show of strength by the party in their stronghold, which consists of Jakarta and its surrounding cities.
Aptly, the protest began brewing in an area considered to be the heart of downtown Jakarta, amidst hotels, upmarket malls and offices.
Traffic crawled to a snail's pace for close to 2 hours at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle.
According to the Jakarta Post online, the protest was organised by a PKS branch from Bekasi, a satellite city east of Jakarta. A spokesman named Chaider (he uses a one word name) had said on Thursday that the organisers were "urging everyone to join in a long march to pressure the US government to take firm action to halt the Israeli air raids against Hamas in the Gaza strip."
Usually bustling with honking cars and motorbikes at lunchtime, the streets around the traffic circle had been eerily quiet in the morning.
But by 1pm, they were clogged up by supporters - dressed in party T-shirts and holding the white, yellow and black party flag - and policemen sent there to maintain the peace. The police later estimated that "tens of thousands" of protesters showed up.
A few young men perched on the back of a blue pick-up truck, using a loudhailer to rally sympathy for the more than 400 people who have been killed in Gaza so far. As their voices bounced off the walls of the buildings, women in headscarfs clutched the hands of young children and shuffled along the hot tarmac enmasse.
Around them, the atmosphere seemed festive, as if families were enjoying a day out with their children before the start of the school term next week.
Some sat on groundsheets under blue skies, chatting and tucking into their lunches of nasi rames (rice with different dishes) and gado-gado. Street vendors were all around, hawking bottled water and Wall's ice-cream, prepaid mobile phone cards, and PKS paraphernalia like badges.
Yet others were taking the opportunity to promote the party's candidate for president, in the July presidential elections.
They wore black T-shirts that said "HNW for President", referring to former party chairman and current leader of Indonesia's constitutional assembly Hidayat Nur Wahid
But as the afternoon unfolded, weary faces - of Indonesians wanting to get on with their lives - began to appear in the crowd.
One mall closed off its exits and entrances temporarily, with shoppers either stuck in the malls or on the sidewalk. Taxi drivers circled the small streets in the area, unwilling to leave the area and get caught up in the gridlock. And hundreds of commuters in Trans-Jakarta buses - buses that ply the main arteries of the city and have their own bus lanes to beat the city's horrible traffic congestion - were left stuck onboard, watching as the bus lane filled up with around 10 buses.
Things cleared up after 3pm when the supporters finally left the area for the United States embassy, a 30-minute walk away. They ended up staging a demonstration outside.
For them, Friday afternoon turned out to be time well-spent for their multiple agendas to be played out.
A coordinator from the party, Tubagus Arif, said in a statement to media later that the aim of the protest was to show solidarity with the Palestinians facing "Israeli atrocities".
But for those in Jakarta unknowingly caught up in the crush of people and the traffic snarl, Friday afternoon turned out to be not so pleasant after all.
Tags:
indonesia,
politics
To Richard>
(1) The protesters in Jakarta have a single agenda -
It is not to say that the Palestinian extremists are right, but if Israel is to resolve a terror issue, it should not be at the expense of innocent civilians in Gaza.
The protest in Jakarta is no different from those in Europe.
(2) The writer is wrong (and it is an insult) to surmise that there are multiple agendas other than the middle east crisis. Her allegation is purely her own personal opinion. As a journalist, she has the RESPONSIBILITY to be accurate.
(3) It is further insult to suggest that the local traffic has the same gravity as the middle east crisis. The traffic situation AS A NEWS ITEM extremely pales in comparison, and yet was made the focus of the article, consciously sidestepping the Gaza issue.
We as Singaporeans are extremely cynical about street protests and degenerate it as nothing but a manifestation of some social ill from some uncivilized nation.
Unfortunately, this is only a reflection of our lack of understanding of the OTHER social ill happening on another part of the world.
If only the writer truly understands that, I don't think she would complain about the traffic.
Perhaps some of the comment writers should take some time to explore the nature of Indonesia's political landscape and the associated rallies/protests that are regular occurences in Jakarta.
And perhaps the offer of a "shoe" should also be made to the supporters of those who fire rockets into Israeli civilian areas from the other side of the current battlefront. It is a two way thing and neither party is doing anything positive in Gaza.
As for Jakarta, 99% of people are accustomed to such rallies, most of which start at that same inner city circle and have done for years and a majority of which end up at the US Embassy or the Presidential Palace after trudging up the same main road and disrupting traffic. Only those caught up in the traffic mess are genuinely affected, as the protestors do it out of a sense of "duty", rather than with any genuyine conviction, while the destinations are prepared to have the protestors "do their thing".
It is sad that one commentator appears to be so insular as to insist the writer turn a blind eye to goings on around Singapore, which is never a good thing. Developments anywhere in the region could impact on one's own country at some stage and it is wise to be prepared to respond in whatever way is necessary to continue to "flourish".
I would agree though, that the original article is put together in a very roundabout way - better to get to your point Lynn, rather than try to make it in such a circuitous manner.
No no. You didn't get my point. My point is this, whilst our country is still in a mess (traffic problems), why report on Indonesia's traffic problems? If our country's human rights record is bad, why report on Indonesia's human rights record (as in her previous post). True she is being paid to write but what's the point? Is she that desperate for money? Is she writing for money? We shouldn't be poking our noses into other countries' problems when we too are facing the same problems. Are we being hypocritical here? Shame on you. Write some thing fruitful then. I didn't say that external problems do not have effects on Singapore. I said 'do not have direct effect'. Singapore media and journalism are a bunch of jokes. If you still do not agree with me, write in to me via king_crippler@hotmail.com . And please do not try to act smart. Some tims all we need is time to reflect on ourselves first before we poke our noses into other countries' problems. Period.
If you open your TV, there it is -
Protesters in London
Protesters in DC
Protesters in Rome
Protesters in Paris
Protesters in Libya
Protesters in Lebanon
Protesters in Manila
Protesters in South Korea
Protesters in Japan
So how is Jakarta different?
Oh ok, the protests compounded the existing traffic problem.
So that makes the protests wrong?
How about those in Europe? And in America?
LA had terrible traffic even without protests you know.
I'm sure the writter is merely expressing her views.
But she is not an ordinary blogger. SHE IS A PAID JOURNALIST.
She has the RESPONSIBILITY to report the news as is, intelligently, and as objective as possible.
We read both their articles and sponsors' ads because there is TRUST that what they report is ACCURATE, unlike ordinary bloggers who don't write for profit.
Some standards are expected.
King Crippler, it would be foolish to think that what goes on in Indonesia has no direct impact on Singapore. It would also be foolish to think a writer can "settle issues" in Singapore.
Take the blog for what it is: an insight into the journalist's worldview - and everyone is entitled to his/her perspective - and for us the reader to juxtapose that with our own experiences and derive our own conclusions.
By the way, the difference between a traffic jam in Jakarta and one in Singapore, is that in the former, hordes of black-shirted, paid demonstrators are allowed in the name of "demokrasi" to take a busy traffic junction hostage along with everyone else who is trying to get to work because construction on their MRT has stalled for 10 years, versus one in which you get regular updates on the radio, electronic road signs and reasonable public transportation alternatives.
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