Barisan Merah Atau Kurang Ajar? Daan Mogot Tadi Pagi..

If KASBI  – the Committee of Independent Unions Action – doesn’t disown the pig-ignoramuses in Barisan Merah uniform…

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…

…who had KASBI printed on their uniforms too, and who blocked the TransJakarta Busway on Daan Mogot around 10am today, that ‘labour’ outfit will forfeit whatever sympathy the honest working folk on the bus might have had for them.

The obnoxious louts capered like demented serpents in front of the bus…

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…and it was probably a smart move that the driver didn’t open the doors, because the passengers in the ladies’ section might have climbed down and battered the moronic turds.

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I had assumed we’d stopped for the usual Jakarta reason, macet2 (traffic jams), until the angry female voices took my attention away from my handphone.

So, studying the offenders’ uniforms…

…I used Google Search and identified the scumbags’ shirts, that…

Barisan Merah…

..as

…the Red Front!

But I would say a better description of the rabble might be…

KURANG AJAR!

• (ignorant of common decency)

• 

• Eventually, our driver had to leave the bus lane to get past these obnoxious anti-socials.

• I don’t know what the nasty goons ( there were dozens, loitering on both sides of the road) thought they were trying to achieve but they certainly alienated every single soul on that bus.

 

Jakarta Corona Frustration – And The Poor People Of Paris!

Watching the news this afternoon, that old song came to mind.

It was in the juke-box in Comley’s store near my old school in Stratford, Ont., and I always used to wonder what had befallen those Parisians, to evoke such an expression of sympathy!

Only much later did I get that it was an ode to happy paupers!

But while I feel sorry for Parisians, now subject to fines if they fancy a walk around the block…

….and while I admire those singing Italians, my message today is NOT to do what the Jakartan authorities have done, viz,

…a restriction on the operational hours of public transportation to contain the virus’ spread…

But of course..

…the policy appears to have backfired with large crowds and long queues at Transjakarta and MRT Jakarta stations throughout the capital.

https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/03/16/covid-19-city-wide-transport-restrictions-cause-buildup-at-transjakarta-mrt-stations.html

I fell victim to their policy yesterday, being a rebellious fellow who had things to do downtown ( delivering a volume of Sherlock Holmes stories…

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…to an Indonesian secretary who’s a huge fan of Conan Doyle’s famous detective) and nobody had told me that Transjakarta buses had suspended service on all but 13 of its 248 routes!

So I got as far as Harmoni..

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..a very old picture of Harmoni junction..

..

….took my usual connection to Monas, only to be told by a staffer there that the 6A was ‘not running, maybe 2 weeks!’

He offered no explanation, so I assumed it was due to the major construction work on Rasuna Said.

So I went south, eventually reaching Senayan…

The Youth Statue, aka ‘Hot-Hands Harry,’ at Senayan

…

…where again my planned alternative, the Blok M – Manggarai service, was out of action!

By this time, I was suspicious, and questioned another staffer, who broke down under interrogation and confessed – a corona panic measure!

Well, the gal did eventually get her book ( purchased for $3 in a New South Wales charity shop!) and I eventually got home, my outing today a brief shopping trip to Superindo, stocking up on bread and potatoes to eat with the Aussie bacon I also brought back!

I do hope there’s a bus re-think.

As the Jakarta Post reported, ‘long lines that stretched onto streets and sidewalks formed at bus shelters, while the shelters became filled with waiting passengers.’

But with almost nobody else up for a night out, it’s not going to affect me.

Home, but not, happily, always alone, I am only bored sometimes, and then I blog to pass the time

TransJakarta Atau TransAlaska? Dingin Banget!

My Indonesian headline is aimed at eliciting comments from local readers, who, like me, use the TransJakarta Busway.

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I have complained about various aspects of the service before now…

XDeres – 7, Lebak Bulus – 1 : TransJakarta Kurang Adil! 

…but there seems to be some loss of control over the temperatures on the vehicles…

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….icy air-con blasts leaving passengers shivering by the time they reach their destinations.

I look around each time I board and notice plenty of my fellow-travellers are clad in jackets and wrap-around scarves, which in Jakarta are not what one expects to wear when out and about…

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My typical Sunday

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….although some of the office blocks downtown are just about as bad as the buses. What’s bad in the high-rises is that individual bosses can’t flick a switch to fix that. The A/C controls are building-wide, controlled by a central authority who can probably open his basement windows to ameliorate the Arctic atmosphere he -or she – imposes on everyone else.

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But those office-blocks are privately run.

TransJakarta is a public corporation!

The dreaded Jakarta Flu is an inevitable consequence of being half-frozen, then nice and warm, then half-frozen, then nice and warm, which is what happens if you change buses more than once.

Why don’t management do something about it?

Bravo, Jakarta’s Djarot! Why Can’t Councillors Use Buses!

What a pity Governor Djarot will soon be replaced by a man whose fans include the white-shirt vigilante gang, the self-styled ”Islam Defenders’ Front” aka FPI!

Netizens React to Anies Baswedan`s Meeting with FPI`s Rizieq |

• ========

• But Djarot is only there because his predecessor, the honourable Ahok, was clapped in jail, to worldwide dismay, for the bizarre ‘crime’ of ‘blasphemy.’

But in the few brief months Ahok’s deputy has been running Jakarta, he has done a pretty fair job…

Jakarta’s Djarot Talks Sense – ‘Shape Up Or Ship Out!’ 

…though I suppose some will be eager to see him out of City Hall, so the new regime can get to work on such inspirational schemes as the promoting of ‘shariah tourism.’

Get Your Tickets Soon – Jakarta Shariah Tourism Boom? 

Meanwhile, let’s applaud the news , yesterday…

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Djarot tells councillors to return cars

Jakarta Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat has told all city councillors to return their official cars before demanding their transportation allowances.

“All the 101 official cars should be returned, then we can compensate for them with a transportation allowance. Otherwise, we’ll not disburse the allowance…” 

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/10/02/djarot-tells-councillors-to-return-cars.html

We’re not talking old jalopies here.

Another local report describes the vehicles as ‘luxury cars…’

Djarot Minta Mobil Dinas Mewah Anggota DPRD DKI Ditarik!

The Jakarta Post explains that the ever-diligent councillors have the right to a transportation allowance, rather than a car, to assist them in carrying out their duties.

Unfortunately, many have yet to return the Toyota Corolla Altis cars provided to them.

Not being a car-nut, I had no idea what a Toyota Corolla Altis might be like, so I made the effort to find out. 

Not bad, huh?

I guess if I possessed such a splendid vehicle, I too would be slow to give it up, but since these councillors do NOT possess the cars, only have the use of them, they have no right whatsoever to hang onto them when ordered to hand them back!

I wonder how many Jakarta citizens who, like me, go to and fro by public transport, would prefer to see their elected ‘representatives’ do the same.

Indeed, judging from the big ads around Jakarta…

…

…

…urging us all to reduce traffic jams by using public omnibuses, the councillors ought to lead by example.

Give ’em a bus pass!

They can flash it as they board and go about their duties for free!

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TransJakarta Bus

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Likely, if forced to use buses, they’d opt for the modern and usually very clean, although often very crowded, TransJakarta vehicles…

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…….

But what a joy it would be to see them travelling on the good old kopajas!

Mogok TransJakarta Busway? It's A Strike? Not Much On The News!

I just tried to use the TransJakarta Busway, only to be told by the ticket-girl at a half-shuttered entrance that thee was no service!

I politely asked her why ,and she with equal courtesy replied that there was mogok (stoppage) throughout the city.

OK, no gallivanting for me, and no big deal.

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But WHY have the media not reported this? There’s a demo downtown, at T-J HQ, so detik.com tells us, news just twenty minutes old.

https://news.detik.com/berita/d-3527549/karyawan-demo-di-kantor-transjakarta-cawang

But nothing anywhere else on Google News.

VERY STRANGE!.
PS Just saw it on SCTV noon news- demo AND strike!

Bagus, TransJakarta!

I have to get to Bekasi, or nearby, next week, to meet some former students.

They told me to come to Harapan Indah by TransJakarta Busway. But studying the route maps at Harmoni, there’s no sign of a Halte Busway by that name.

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However, I did see an email address for info, and asked a local friend to try it for me. My Indonesian language skills are not that bad, but I wanted to make sure my meaning was clear.

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So I sat back and watched as she sent it off.  I was not overly hopeful, because while Indonesians are usually friendly and helpful, organised activity and/or technical communication can sometimes come unstuck.

BINGO.

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Within ten minutes, there came a reply, giving precise clear instructions. It seems the problem which I had encountered was down to the maps not being updated.

So although I have had occasion to criticise TransJakarta in the past ( and they still send far too many buses to Kalideres and not enough to Lebak Bulus, and ‘convoys’ are still too common) I commend their emailing staff.

If you are planning a journey – it’s only Rp.3500 wherever you go – that’s 35 cents – here’s their email address.

naektije@transjakarta.co.id

“I’m A Pick-Pocket!” OK! So Why Not Shame IslamoNazis?

Speaking of criminals – I refer to my previous post, in which I abhorred Obama’s ( admittedly unsurprising) empathy with treasonous freaks…

Breaking – Obama Commutes Traitor Freak’s Sentence 

…I thought overseas readers might be interested in the sort of scene which met my gaze a few days ago when I transitted Harmoni Central Halte Busway, the main bus junction in Jakarta.

0000000000

“I am a pick-pocket!’ (no camera on me, so that is a previous example – seems it happens a lot, tho I’d not witnessed it before!)

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I emerged from a Route 8 bus and was walking up to catch another, heading south, when I passed what I at first took to be an effigy.

Not so!

It moved (very slightly) and I slowed down to stare at the individual with his hands bound behind his back and a sign slung round his neck, declaring to all the world that –

‘I AM A PICK-POCKET!’

Seems he had been apprehended, and probably roughly handled – one hopes- for trying to steal from law-abiding users of the bus-way.

A good idea?

Probably, though if all the pick-pockets in Jakarta were caught and similarly subjected to public shaming, it would cause congestion at bus-stops!

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• When I was new to the city, I fell prey to such anti-social swine, and, though now alert to the risks (and thus unscathed for years) I gather it still goes on, a lot.
• But what I’d like to see is the same treatment meted out to other sorts of criminals as well.
• ——-
• The rich corruption convicts, of whom there are way too many, and sectarian hoodlums…

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…don’t get put in places like busways with signs round their necks identifying their outrageous crimes.

Sukorejo’s Sectarian Samurai – IslamoNazi Thugs Get Slap on Wrist

…even when they attack the police!

 Twenty Officers Injured –

There are other undesirables about too, all over Indonesia, not just in Jakarta, like those foul brutes in Cikeusik…

oooooo

Cikeusik, Banten Province, February 6th, 2011. Watch the pigs at their bloody work on this link..   http://www.liveleak.com/view.

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Victim of Islamist Murder Mob Gets Six Months in the Slammer 

… and those cowardly louts in Jogjakarta, whose violence we covered some time ago…

IslamoNazi Thugs Attack Indonesian Artist in Jogja 

If such anti-social creatures were put on display in public places, people would probably not just cast a dismissive glance at the scum and walk by.

Likely, they’d be spat on, kicked, or at least loudly derided.

And THAT would be a VERY good thing.

So why does it never seem to happen?

TransJakarta Busway – Dangerous After Dark? Jarang!

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Since I have criticised the TransJakarta Busway from time to time, with no notable result – they still too often move in convoys of three or four, and then have a long gap in services…

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 Fat piglet

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…and conductors still do not make fat piglet brats give up their seats to adults –  the report in the Jakarta Post this week obliges me, in fairness, to spring slowly to the busway’s defence.

It’s about what sounds like a ‘racially motivated’ incident, when ‘an ethnic Chinese man was racially taunted and assaulted on a Transjakarta bus.’

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/08/30/ethnic-chinese-man-called-ahok-attacked-bus.html

The alleged victim posted his story on Facebook, about what happened on a Transjakarta mid-evening bus between  Semanggi and Senayan bus stops.

A group of men in batik shirts boarded the bus and started to racially abuse him, calling him “Ahok”, the widely used nickname of the city’s first ethnic Chinese governor.

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 Ahok

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“I remember them saying to me: ‘choose between slanted eyes or closed eyes’ and ‘you are Ahok, right?,” The victim, Andrew, wisely did not take on the gang, three or four in number, but tried to brush them off. Then they  hit him and tried to drag him off the bus. Fortunately, some other passengers pulled him back into the bus.

The latter are good examples, representative of the decent majority of Indonesians, and the thugs are not typical of Jakartans at all.

There are sectarian louts in town…- 

Jakarta Jew-Haters Boo Chinese Christian Candidate 

 …and they all hate Ahok, who, despite the fact that he makes occasional misjudgements, is a pretty good governor.

But there aren’t that many sectarian hoodlums.

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Sectarian thugs in action – these were in Makassar, but they have comrades in the capital

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My best guess is that the hooligans were either drunk or part of that squalid jihadist minority. 

I often go home by bus if I have been to one of my frequent parties. I have never experienced nor seen such bad behaviour and so I hope this one-off incident will not deter others from using public transport. I reckon crimes like this occur jarang – rarely. 

At Rp.3500, compared to what a taxi home would cost ( between 50 and 100 thousand rupiah!) it’s a great deal, for all its small faults.

Strangely, neither the bus management nor the police admitted to having received a report from Andrew. He should do so, fast, if he hasn’t already.

If the assault was recorded, there’s a chance the villains can be apprehended, and so they should be!

TransJakarta Buses – What’s the Problem?

Good to note that Governor Ahok is to ban diplomats and other high-ups, etc. from the TransJakarta Busway lanes, but there aren’t THAT many of them.

Having said that, if one non-bus vehicle gets to use the bus-lane, every other driver is moved to try the same stunt. Ahok obviously realises that. 

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/06/13/police-diplomats-cars-banned-transjakarta-lanes.html

Anyway, no amount of bans will make any difference unless they are enforced, not just for a few days but permanently.

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Time and again, I’ve simmered, late – well, I’m never actually late because I leave twice as early as any sane person would. Unpunctuality is, to me, one of the  worst forms of discourtesy – due to selfish good-for-nothing toe-rags invading the Busway lanes from which they’re theoretically banned.

Perhaps the Jakarta SatPol PP  (the civic militia) could be issued with special long clubs and given free rein to bash bus-lane transgressors’ cars.

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The SatPols would have loads of fun and the said transgressors would weary of flouting lane-rules were they to incur serious damage to their vehicles.

How’s that for a solution?

Oh, and within the buses, conductors should be ordered to enforce basic manners. Time and again , I’ve witnessed bad parents who allow their spoilt brats to remain seated when adults are standing.

The pampered little piglets even put their feet up on the seats, so when a grown-up eventually does get to sit down, his or her clothing will be dirtied by whatever might have been on the soles of said brats’ shoes.

It’s quite shocking to me how many people here with kids really do need parenting skills classes. Had I taken a seat on public transport, as a young lad, when any of my elders were standing, a clip round the ear would not have been long in coming.

But I sadly suspect that manners, like queuing, are a dying habit back in The Old Country. 

 

XDeres – 7, Lebak Bulus – 1 : TransJakarta Kurang Adil!

Try waiting at Harmony, working day, 9pm or later – damned disgraceful standard of service!

Tonight, dozens waiting for Lebak Bulus, only to have to watch SEVEN buses going to X-Deres

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…as opposed to just ONE to Lebak Bulus.

The management ought to be dragged to City Hall and made to account for the PATHETIC service!