Jakarta, Feb 28 (Antara) - The Indonesian government will carry out a
study to find out whether there is something lacking in its education
system that the number of youths committing street crimes against
motorists has been increasing of late.
Since early this month, the number of crimes committed by relatively
young people against motorists has been increasing. The latest case took
place in Pondok Aren, South Tangerang, Banten, where a mugger was burnt
to death by an angry mob after he tried to rob a couple of motorists on
Tuesday.
Following the Pondok Aren incident, the issue of mugging, wherein
people on motorcycles are mostly targeted, has put the spotlight on
security in Jakarta and its surrounding areas this week.
The incident occurred at 1 a.m. when four individuals were allegedly on
the prowl to rob motorists. The gang attacked Wahyu Hidayat (21) and
his friend, Sri Astriani (19), while they were traveling on their
motorcycle.
One of the robbers brandished a sword but Sri managed to snatch the
weapon while Wahyu screamed for help, attracting passersby. The four
robbers then tried to flee the scene but were chased. One of them, S
(22), was caught and set on fire on a street.
Based on recent data, the Jakarta Metropolitan Police have shot dead
seven robbers, who had reportedly hijacked 93 motorists, and taken into
custody 244 suspects.
The increase in mugging incidents has raised the government's concern.
It suspects the country's education system is lacking. Vice-President
Jusuf Kalla is of the view that the government should conduct a study to
find out what is the real reason for increasing crimes on streets.
"This situation should be improved. I had a discussion with Culture and
Education Minister Anies Baswedan about the problem. There must be some
problem with our education system. If so, we have to resolve it," Jusuf
Kalla told the media at his residence in Makassar, South Sulwesi, on
Friday. He had returned from a series of working visits to Jayapura
(Papua) and Ambon (Maluku).
According
to him, muggers of school-going age were most likely the victims of
bullying by senior schoolmates; they are now committing crimes outside
their school environment.
The
Vice-President also ordered the minister of culture and education to
conduct studies into the causes of this rising crime in cooperation with
educational experts.
"We
should find out whether our youths have such bad behavior because our
education system is no longer effective and is too tolerant," he said.
Kalla admitted he was disturbed to see rampant mugging crimes against motorists in large cities in several regions.
He said that in Makassar, for example, there were some 50 muggers aged
14 years, including girls from both financially secure and poor
families. "So, there must be something wrong with our education system.
We should study it," the Vice-President stated.
In Jakarta, for example, muggers have increased their operations in the
suburbs or buffer towns, such as Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi.
They are also active in other provinces in the country.
According to Jakarta Police Spokesman Sr. Comm. Martinus Sitompul,
criminals have shifted their operations to suburbs because security
personnel have been carrying out large-scale patrols in cities.
"Although they usually operate in cities, they have now shifted to the
outskirts," Senior Comm. Martinus Sitompul pointed out on Wednesday.
Therefore, Kalla asked that, studies to find the causes of increasing
street crimes should be carried out and should be completed within one
month.
Baswedan said he was ready to follow the Vice-President's instruction
to study the reasons for the rise in rampant mugging by youths.
"I will look into the matter from an educational aspect. The education
of youths happens in three places: their school, house, and
surroundings. We have to cooperate with their parents and people in
their surroundings," Baswedan said on Saturday.
Baswedan noted that violence among youths could be the result of the huge presence of video games.
"We have to find out the types of video games that contain violence and are massive in circulation," he added.
According to the minister, because of constantly playing violent video
games, children are not able to differentiate between virtual violence
and real violence.
"We, parents, teachers, and people in their surroundings, have to control this," he pointed out.
The minister has asked school principals, homeroom teachers, and
preceptors to be sharp and firm while dealing with violence.
"The government will support school principals who take stern actions
against violence. Should a problem emerge, it must be dealt together
with parents because it is they who handle youths at home," he remarked.
He
stated that his side has also created a special plan to address the
problem and instructed schools to invite parents to help prevent their
children from committing violence such as mugging.
Meanwhile, Bima Arya, the mayor of Bogor City, West Java, has been
mobilizing the regional government's civil and military personnel
(Muspida) to conduct patrols in anticipation of mugging crimes.
"Bogor City and sub-district level civil and military officers have
been conducting patrols," Bima Arya said on Thursday.
Bima noted that his office has urged Bogor residents to watch out for muggers who often target motorcycle riders.
He remarked that based on reports, muggers came not just from Bogor but
from outside as well. "We are coordinating with Bogor City's civilians
and military officials," he added.***2***
(T.A014/INE/B003)
EDITED BY INE
(T.A014/A/BESSR/Bustanuddin) 28-02-2015 19:2 |
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