Police Actions in Surabaya

Yesterday I read two articles in The Jakarta Globe about Police actions in the city of Surabaya, East Java.

The first one was about the Police raiding a shop that sells Sex Pills and Toys without any license from the Department of Health. A Police officer predicted that the customers of Pills are probably young men who consumed them so that they can satisfy women who pay for their services. While customers of the Toys are women who are not satisfied with their husbands, or widows or divorcee.

The second one was about a Police finding an American man during a regular patrol at a whore house. When questioned, the man said that he is member of the United States Marine Corps on a mission to prepare the visit of US President Obama to Jakarta and Bali. The man was only able to show his passport but no Marine ID. The Police released the man after he said that he prefer to be shot rather than be arrested.

I wish that the Police have handled the American man as firmed as when they handled the sex shop, in the sense that if they really have reason to suspect the American of doing something wrong, they should have taken him to the Police station for investigation, and later on clarify with the U.S Consulate in Surabaya.

Say it with Shoes

“Say it with Flowers!” that’s an old adage which implies that Males should express their feelings of Love to Females they loved by giving her Flowers.

Apparently, said adage has now been changed to express Hatreds, in some parts of the world, including Indonesia. In which cases, the Flowers are changed with Shoes. Here are the excerpts of news reports on four incidents:

The Telegraph reported that on 3 February 2009, a protester threw a shoe at Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao during his visit to London.
CNN reported that on 14 December 2008, an Iraki journalist threw a Shoe at the US President George W. Bush while he was giving a press conference in Bagdad.
Tempo reported two separate incidents of Shoe Throwing at the District Court of Central Jakarta, as follows :
On 8 May 1998, during the trial of Political Case against Dr. Sri Bintang Pamungkas, a spectator threw a shoe at the Council of Judges, for giving heavy sentence.
On 18 August 1987, during the trial of Fraud Case, Mimi, the victim, threw her Shoe at the Council of Judges for punnishing the Defendant lower than she expected.

As a conclusion I felt that people tend to express their hatreds towards other people by throwing their possession i.e. Shoes, which perhaps symbolize extended Kicking of the feet.

Pic:Xinhua