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t was business as usual at Starbucks cafe on Jakarta thoroughfare Jl. MH Thamrin on Friday, just 24 hours after the coffee shop was hit by an IS-linked suicide bomber. The Sarinah shopping mall next door also bore no trace of the anxiety that had gripped the city in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks.

Traffic was typically slow during the rush hour, while offices, schools and markets opened in the morning as always. The stock market, too, seemed unperturbed by the security concern, even continuing an upward trend to climb by 5.80 points in the morning trade.

All goes to show that life is going on in Jakarta, perhaps contrary to what the attackers had hoped and expected.

Reports that the city was back to normal reached the ears of President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo, but he preferred to conduct a ground check to be sure. Moreover, the President'€™s visit to the Sarinah building and its surroundings sent a message of confidence to the nation, and the world, that the terror attacks had categorically failed.

Shortly after security authorities restored order on Thursday, the President visited Starbucks coffee shop to help calm down the public and the market. It came as no surprise, as he himself had called on the nation not to cower in his immediate response to the attacks.

If we can call it a blessing in disguise, the terrorists'€™ strike on Thursday has emboldened both the state and the people of Indonesia to renew their commitment to stand firm against terror, mirroring the solidarity that formed in Paris last November, and other places where terrorists have launched heinous attacks.

Needless to say, well-knit cooperation between the state and its people is key to eradicating terrorism, which has been haunting Indonesia since the global '€œwar on terror'€ began.

The state'€™s role is to protect its people and give them a much-needed feeling of security. That'€™s why the police'€™s counterterrorism squad Densus 88 conducted raids across the country on Friday, including in Bekasi and Cirebon in West Java, and arrested a number of people in connection with the Jakarta attacks. Numerous raids had preceded the attacks, and we might have witnessed more carnage on Thursday had Densus 88 personnel not sacrificed their Christmas and New Year holidays.

To further protect the public, loopholes in antiterrorism regulations must be addressed so as to allow law enforcers to prevent terrorists from launching attacks. Terrorism is an extraordinary crime that requires extraordinary measures to deal with.

The public, both on social media and on the street, has contributed to the fight against terrorism. The phrase '€œwe are not afraid'€ has gone viral and become everybody'€™s buzzword. However, hashtags are not enough; what is more important is consistent enforcement of security regulations that require people to report to the police any suspicious activity they notice in their neighborhood.