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Walk At Your Own Risk!

25 Jan posted by

The early Monday news haunt me till this very minute.

9 innocent lives gone taken by one drunk, driver’s license-less and a meth head girl on Sunday morning in Jakarta.

Image from: Kompas

The driver and her 3 friends survived but those 9 lives are forever gone.

This has became a national headlines today and I feel sick down to my stomach.

Let me tell you, here, you ride the filthy public buses you’ll get groped by perverts, you ride the train you will get squeezed like sardines. You ride public mini-vans and you get raped! Now it’s not even safe to walk down the street? How sad has this city become is beyond me. This is just a daily part of commuting in Jakarta, a picture I took riding the all female train.

First of all, like I had blog before, sidewalks in Jakarta is pretty much nonexistent! They are either uneven, with dangerous pot holes, cracked or just pretty much occupied with those street vendors or covered with motorbikes trying to escape the congested traffic.

Now let’s talk about drivers courtesy in general here. Guess what, it’s pretty much nonexistent too.

As someone who doesn’t drive here, I’ve heard my father vented out about how rude people can get once they are behind the wheels here, be it two wheeled or four wheeled ones.

Road courtesy is nonexistent. Driver’s education? Nonexistent!

No wonder a lot of Indonesian drivers failed their tests if they attempt to get driver license abroad.

Do you even know how freaking easy it is to get a driver’s license here? Just bribe and voila! You can now drive and put everyone else’s lives at risk by having no ideas how to drive safely. The whole system is beyond broken and maybe that’s why I refused to drive here.

What pissed me and so many millions other Indonesians are the facts that this girl would only face 4 to 12 years in prison for what she did. Really? It’s a freaking DUI for God’s sakes. Is that how cheap the price of one’s life in my country? Among the victims were a 7 months pregnant lady. Killed with the baby inside! She went all Grand Theft Auto on these people and will just get a slap in the hand for it?!

This is so outrageous and make such a huge mockery out of our justice system. Personally, I think this girl should be handcuffed right away not tweeting and playing around with her Blackberry at the crime scene like shown on TV. From what I read, she had the time to locked her Twitter account just before she got arrested. There is no word to describe how disgusting that is. She should pay for what she did and spend the rest of her lives behind bars to think of those innocent lives taken by her stupidity!

So yeah, I guess in Jakarta walking now need to come with a warning label! Walk at your own risk.

What’s DUI laws are in your country? 

8 Comments
Filed Under: Jakarta Livin'

Mini-Skirt Is Not An Invitation For Rapist

18 Sep posted by
dreamstimefree_102490

This is why I usually stay away from the news…

But there are times where the news knocked me down hard that I got all fired up and pissed-off is really an understatement. I felt sick to my stomach! The comment coming from our very own Jakarta’s Governor, Fauzi Bowo last Friday on his advise to women left me utterly disgusted.

“Wear sensible clothes, don’t wear ‘inviting’ clothes. You can imagine, if [a woman] wears short skirt and sits next to the driver, it could be ‘inviting’” – Fauzi Bowo

Deep breath…okay.

I was raised in a culture that pounded on girls to mind what we wear. To not draw attention to ourselves because we are girls. We the older generations were told to cover ourselves up. Back then, there is no way you would see teenage girls wondering around a mall wearing hot pants. Time has shifted obviously. Sometimes I roll my eyes seeing the things these young girls are wearing here in Jakarta because it wasn’t this way let’s say 15 years ago when I was younger but hey live evolves – or so it should.

But I never witness or experience us being taught about sexual harassment and the likes. We were never taught how to react if we are being sexually assaulted. It was all a hushed hushed kind of situation that no one really wants to talk about. Did parents taught their boys to be respectful to women? That there are boundaries not to be crossed when it comes to women? I honestly doubt it being Indonesia is pretty much a patriarchy kind of nation.

Growing up I heard my mother keep telling me “Watching a teenage girl is harder than watching a herd of sheep!” I used no never care about that nor did I understand until I became parent myself. Granted, I don’t have a daughter but it is a scary world out there these days.

Sexual education is still a big taboo here so we pretty much were left on our own. Never – draw – attention – to – yourselves – kind of doctrine. Now I remember why I always finds it uncomfortable to be a girl, a woman here. I remember walking through a slum of bus station in college to have guys calling me inappropriate names, made me hunched my back even more.

In high school I learned a lot about self defense because I was forced to do it. Taking three busses to and from school is HARD! You met all sorts of crazy nut jobs. Once, someone put his hand on my thigh under my school bag. This didn’t end well as I jumped out of my seat, pushed the jerk off of me until he fell on the floor, started yelling and cursing at that freak. I can’t tell you how many times I had to shove my elbow hard because some psychos tried to rub their penis on my shoulder. All these happened when I was in my Catholic high school uniform! Not in a friggin mini skirt! To protect myself back then, I started carrying a knife cutter in my school bag.

So dear Mr. Governor to have you made such comment not only made my blood boil. I do not wish anything bad happen to you but learn what COMPASSION really is about. Fix this damn city so it is safer for us women! You should totally be ashamed of yourself.

A woman can wear a tent for Pete’s sake and guys could still gang rape her if they want to! So that mini skirt comment is just way out of the line! To blame a rape victim because she wore a mini skirt does not only berated women, it’s like raping her all over again! Sexual harassment law should be more stringent and applicable here. Protect the women and give severe punishment to those who rape!

Seriously, I can’t tell you how many times I got so disgusted seeing the news about some rapist who just got sentenced 3 to 4 years while the poor woman have to live with the fact that she will be blamed for by the society for the rest of her life! The trauma alone cannot be rectifying by a few years behind bars.

Dear Mr. Governor, I know you have a daughter and God forbid she ever get rape and I do not wish that BUT how would you feel if it does? Then to hear people in power – such as yourself – telling her “You should never wear that mini skirt in the first place!”

And this is why women of Indonesia really are still living in the dark ages with this kind of Neanderthal way of thinking our Indonesian men – especially those in powers has.

Yes you apologize oh our holy Governor but you know what, the damaged has been done! You and that West Aceh district head asshole that once had made a similar remark about women and rape deserves to have karma bites your holy asses!

So ladies, rock your mini-skirts – or-whatever-it-is-you-want-to-wear – and be proud of yourself! Don’t let these twats dictate what we can or cannot wear!

Photo From: Dreams Time

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Filed Under: Jakarta Livin'

Chinese Safety Saw

14 Jul posted by
saw1

These images belong to my husband friend, an awesome photographer Steve who also created the PDF file for it and I just ‘ripped’ it apart so I can post it here.

Safe Money With A Chinese Safety Saw!!!

Measure once and just cut, the Chinese safety saw has everything you need right out of the box.

1. Nonadjustable blade never needs adjustment!

2. Capable of cutting even the thickest types of wood!

3. Solid Steel drive belt guard and industrial strength motor!

4. Saw can be quickly shutdown by ripping the wires from the motor!

5. Small and portable, bring it with you anywhere!

6. Includes modular Chinese electrical safety panel free of charge!

Modular Electrical Safety Panel (Free of Charge)!

1. Semi-weather resistant design!

2. Will emit smoke in the event of an overload thus alerting operators, an important safety consideration!

3. Dual circuit breaker operation with optional 250-amp outlet shown!

4. Expandable with common wire and circuit breaker sold separately!

Quantities Are Limited So Order Today!

This has been my entry for Wordless (err maybe Not So Wordless) Wednesday. Head over to Alicia’s A Beautiful Mess to link up.

23 Comments
Filed Under: China, Photoblog

Bye Bye Phone

31 May posted by
Mommy should keep her fingers down lol

One of the scary perk of living in an apartment is the height! I kid you not we’re on the 30th floor…

On Sunday,  Mr. X got to spent some bonding time with Lil’ A.

Little that we know their times together will involved, security, cell phone and a balcony!

Yeah, Mr. X was playing with Lil’ A in his toy room when his cell phone rang. He left Lil’ A to answer the call from work and didn’t realize that someone already sneaked out of the room.

Couple of minutes later Mr. X started to get suspicious because Lil’ A was mighty quiet! He went to the toy room…the little monkey wasn’t there anymore.

He found him in our bedroom… outside at the balcony, just squatting down with a huge mighty ‘I’m-in-deep-trouble‘ grin on his face.

He had just threw Mr. X’s century old blackberry phone from work that he never use anyway outside the balcony! Is it just a normal toddler curiosity or this one just having too much fun dropping things out? He does this at my mom’s house too, from the second floor!

Later, security guy came up and gave Mr. X a warning about the incident. Oh believe me someone got a very strong warning and time out!

I couldn’t care less about the cell phone but it freaked me out to think that Lil’ A can open the sliding door to our balcony – when we thought the lock was pretty complicated for his little fingers. We had another sliding door with lock installed in the living room – for the balcony – but not our room. His bedroom and toy room have safety railings covering the windows but we didn’t child proof the balcony in our room. Huge mistake! So, Mr. X is stopping by Ace Hardware today after work to find some kind of child-proof lock. No, we better not gamble on “Oh he won’t do that…” scenario. I had read enough stories of horror apartment accidents involving children in this city to make me paranoid!

So people, if you have one curious toddler like we does, you better double checks your bolts and locks!

Updated: This post was written while Mr. X and I had been separated for months.

19 Comments
Filed Under: Jakarta Livin', Single Mommyhood, Toddlerhood

Indoor Play Areas Tips

20 Apr posted by
Lollipop

Where park and outdoor playground is sadly limited, often times parents resort to these indoor play area located inside many of Jakarta’s big malls. Personally, I hate this kinds of places because I thinks outdoor playground serves much better but sometimes you just have to go with the flow.  Except for some of the nice and obviously clean-safe-well-staffed places such as Lollipops at Senayan City, I found most indoor play areas in Jakarta are either dirty or lack of safety features and often times way too loud.

From my own limited experiences here’s what I thought parents should do and don’t when it comes to Indoor Play Areas:

  • Please do not let your child play in the closed area when he/she is clearly not feeling well either from a cold or something else. Would be best for your child to rest at home instead of spreading the germs to others. Nothing more annoying than seeing a poor little sick child with snotty nose playing in an indoor area with an oblivious parent(s).
  • Do wash your child’s hands before and after playing (antiseptic liquid gel/antiseptic wipes works wonder).
  • Do not leave your child unattended so you can at least supervise them from afar. Direct them if they are playing too rough, make sure they are using the equipment properly, and are within their physical abilities.
  • Do not let your older children go into areas designated for the younger ones. This can be dangerous! Not only the older ones are usually more rowdy but the little ones tends to copy to ‘big kids’.
  • Do not let your child share his sippy cups/food/drinks with other children. Often times food/drinks are off limit but some parents obliviously still try to feed their children inside a play area!
  • Do pay attentions to the overall condition and safety of the area. If you see something that doesn’t look safe, then take your children out immediately and inform the management of the place. There are times where I had to informed an attendance because I really thinks a cable wire can be hazardous or a rough carpet under a slide is prone to cause some child a carpet burn. They may or may not take your suggestions into account but it’s better to make them aware of these ‘minor’ faults.
  • If your child is still wearing diapers, do try to put on a fresh new diaper prior to putting them inside a play area. Accidents happens but it’s better to be prepare with a fresh clean diaper than having a diaper explosion inside the ball pit. Same goes for a potty trained wee ones, have them go to the toilet first.
  • Do pay attentions & follow  the play area rules & regulations, they are not just words of suggestions!

Now if only there are more outdoor playgrounds in good shape here. Will check out Prefere 77 in Kemang hopefully next week.

22 Comments
Filed Under: Jakarta Livin', Toddlerhood

Child Safety – Living in An Apartment

1 Sep posted by
jakarta-036

Haven’t blogging in awhile and lately I have several stuffs in my mind that needed to be put in writing LOL.

The news of that poor little boy name Daniel that died after a horrifying accident really strike a cord.

“A three-year-old child who fell from a window of an apartment on the 25th floor of the Sudirman Tower condominium on Saturday died instantly“, police said.

“The incident occurred at 11.00 a.m. The child was playing with his cousin. They were playing on a bed, he opened a window and then fell from the 25th floor to a balcony on the fifth floor,” said Setiabudi patrol unit head I Gede Seryana, as quoted by Detik.com.

“Seryana said the body of child, identified as Daniel, was taken to the Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital in Central Jakarta” (As quoted from The Jakarta Post website)

This accident happened on Saturday (August 30th, 2008). There are two factors of why the story really strikes me. As a mother to a toddler who’s very active, it really feels like a wake up call to be more careful especially since we’re living in a high rise apartment building now in China. As the news developed, they found out that the boy’s bed is right next to that window, which are only a few centimeters above his bed. So risky! There were also no safety lock on the window and when the accident happened, he was in the room alone with his cousin without any supervision. Okay, I’m not going to blame anyone on this as it is already an unimaginable thing for any parents to go thru but I just thought it should be taken a lesson and reminder for other parents to be more careful. Now, I thank God for that ugly looking steel barrier in our bedroom windows.

The other reason is because that accident happened at the apartment I used to work for. I can only imagine the chaos the building management team is facing now. Usually, when such a big accident took place in that place, my ex boss will be the one facing the press but until today I haven’t hear or see him making any statements. I still remember vividly the last big accident a few years ago, when a man threw himself down out of one of Aston hotel room. It was madness and chaos at the office so that’s why it strikes a cord now.

Some people point their fingers at the building management saying they failed to maintain security inside the unit. What most people doesn’t understand is, it is not the building management’s responsibility to lock the windows since it is privately owned units (strata title) unlike a full serviced apartments or hotels such as Tower B, fyi, there are 3 towers there called Tower A, B & C and Tower B is currently under Aryaduta Suites management (previously run by Aston Hotel) whereas all the windows are locked (even the balcony). Putting up security bars by the window is prohibited as it will be visible from the outside, thus changing the whole building exterior appearance, however there are other ways to secure windows and it’s fully the responsibility of the tenants to do so. Also, ahead of moving in, tenants/new owner is always presented with a House Rules book, stated that parents are responsible for their child’s safety inside their units. Personally, I think it was a negligent of whoever it is that’s in charge of the toddler especially since the news stated the kid was a hyperactive kid. There are facts that can’t be reveal in respect of the families privacy of course. I’m not defending the apartment and it is a very tragic accident that will be haunting the family for the rest of their lives and my heart goes out for them but I just feel like I need to set the record straight because many people are not aware of these things.

Well, there goes my unimportant rambling. Hope you will have a great week and for those in hurricane Gustav’s paths please please please be safe. Hopefully, it won’t be as bad as the news predicted.

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Filed Under: Jakarta Livin', Musings
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