Issues of the day: `Shoeshine boys face more jail time' -- June 20, p. 20

Fri, 06/26/2009 1:05 PM  |  Reader's Forum

Shining shoes: The file photo shows Ucil, a shoeshine boy, polishing a customer’s shoes outside a bar in the Blok M commercial district, South Jakarta. Several of his colleagues were arrested when doing their jobs at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. (JP/P.J. Leo)

"Dear Bapak Bambang, I do not like it here, I would rather be at home, pak, I want to go to school again, pak; I miss my parents, I promise I will not do what I did again, pak ..." The words from a short letter, scrawled in broken Indonesian, were written by 10-year-old Saripudin bin Basar. He was trying to convince a high-ranking police officer at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport to free him and his nine friends from the children's penitentiary in Tangerang, after they were arrested on May 29 for allegedly gambling in the area and working as shoeshine boys, deemed a disturbance to the airport's orderliness.

All 10 children sent similar letters to Iptu Bambang Hermanto, the deputy head of the airport's crime unit, responsible for their arrest.

Your comments:

The shoeshine boys seem to me to provide a much needed service at Soekarno-Hatta Airport. Arresting and locking them up achieves what, one asks?

If the airport police really want to apprehend anyone, they should target those hawkers who prowl the terminals, every late afternoon and early evening, selling fake perfume, Rolex watches and Mont Blanc pens at extortionate prices, if they can get away with it.

The airport authority should ensure the legal taxi services are fair and do not attempt to rip off unsuspecting first-time visitors to Jakarta. Most, if not all, of the legal taxis waiting at the exit of the arrivals hall, refuse to use their meters for short distances, such as to Tangerang, Rawa Bokor, and insist on a minimum payment of Rp 100,000 (US$9.70), and possibly more, if you happen to be a visitor who doesn't speak Indonesian.

What signals does this send to visitors arriving in Jakarta for the first time? It also encourages the use of illegal taxis. It would be far better, as in Bali's Ngurah Rai Airport, if there were fixed fees to different areas throughout the city.

Charges should include the taxis' "airport parking fee" and no other hidden costs.

Jack Spratt

Yet another example of how well the justice system works in Indonesia. How sad it is to see the vast gap between how the police in this country view their role and true justice. Whilst the country is being dragged to its knees by serial corrupters and high-flying criminals of position, the police arrest young children. It is nothing short of disgusting. I am very sure that when Bapak Bambang's offspring get caught for speeding, smoking a joint, or some other offense, papa will be around to sort it out.

Denni Hooping

Why do the children (and other street vendors) wander around the airport? Ask the security guards there. The guards let them in. Why? Because they get "tax" money from these "disturbing" people.

Anne Bonnie

These police must really feel proud when their family and friends ask how many criminals they have caught during their shift. Perhaps they should remember their own childhood and think about the ways they themselves earned a little bit of pocket money. For some of these children it's not pocket money, it's survival ... Hey, shoeshine please, right now and here's a few extra bucks for you.

Jimbo

I am sure that children of Bapak Taufik Hidayat (head of the airport's crime unit) attend school dressed in proper uniform carrying their book bags and lunch boxes; when they return from school there is family and a meal waiting.

The children he now gives "shock treatment to deter other workers at the airport" do not have such opportunities.

They most likely leave home (if they have anything that goes by that description) in the morning without breakfast and have to provide for themselves for the rest of the day because their parents cannot provide for them; whatever the reason, I am sure that these children do not shine shoes for the fun of it!

I am equally sure that the problem can be handled in a different manner; locking these children up in jail as a deterrent must be against the law and must be against the basic human rights of children.

They are not criminals; they have not committed any criminal acts, whatever "Article 16" says! Is it not the government's responsibility to provide for, or assist such unfortunate families and children?

It looks so much like the heavy-handed approach meted out by "the law" as in the Omni International Hospital case.

It is true that Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport ranks very low among regional airports in terms of cleanliness and the services it provides. The Clean Airport Action campaign to upgrade the airport, which serves 32 million passengers a year, is therefore laudable.

However, the cleanliness of the airport has little to do with children who have the initiative to earn a little and provide a service to shine shoes. It is not only the airport that is dirty, unkempt and provides substandard services to the traveling public; most public infrastructure is the same. Perhaps, money allocated for its proper operation and maintenance does not go where it should go.

In other words, corruption is at the heart of the matter. After all, 32 million passengers do pay a lot of airport tax, do they not? Airlines using the airport also pay for the services. Locking up children cannot be the answer to solve the nationally ingrained problem of corruption! Dream on Bapak Taufik!

Jose Dinoy

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