Indonesia Anonymus have done us all a favour by investigating the skills and awareness of those security guards at office blocks and hotels charged with checking incoming cars for bombs.
Out of 18 security guards we talked to, we found out that:
* 4 have had at least one training session with the local police regarding explosives and what action to take in case they found one.
* 7 have never been trained to recognize an explosive or something of that sort, but are given a briefing and shown photos of what to look for.
* 4 do not have a clue
* 3 refused to answer
Do you feel safer? Well, we do. Somehow we expected the worst, so knowing that at least some of them have some kind of training, is a relief.
Insecure.
Regular readers of Jakartass will know that I never offer titilations like this photo of Bambang Suharto, the second son of he-who-once-had-to-be-obeyed, and Mayangsari, a not-very-famous singer. Reputedly the photo was taken with a handphone.
I say 'reputedly' because Herman Saksono, a liberal self-centered dude living in Yogyakarta who dislikes hoaxes and nonsense myths, and debunks them on his spare time, has attracted the attention of the police for publishing this photo.
I say 'reputedly' because Herman Saksono, a liberal self-centered dude living in Yogyakarta who dislikes hoaxes and nonsense myths, and debunks them on his spare time, has attracted the attention of the police for publishing this photo.
I would hope that SBY allowed himself a wry smile if he saw this crudely photoshopped picture. Fatih Syuhud however suspects that he was angry.That, of course, would be a shame.
In a just-reborn-democratic country the ability to laugh at oneself is unlikely to emerge quickly. Once it does, however, there are likely to be mature institutions in a secure society, uninterested in salacious gossip and capable of dealing with serious matters, such as corruption, environmental damage, pollution, human rights, which are not a problem in the USA or the UK.
What? Oh ....
