Expatriates are an interesting group. Most have carved out a life of traveling from country to country, exploring, growing and enjoying all the world has to offer while working for a company willing to pay them to live abroad. Others move to a new country and make that their temporary home for a decade or more. Anyone who has been an expatriate for any length of time is likely to have an interesting story to tell. This is one of them of a person I’ll call Luke.
Luke arrived in Jakarta early in 1998 working for a large multi-national as a software consultant. In May, then president Suharto was struggling to maintain control of his 20 year reign of power. Rioting was common throughout Indonesia and students began demonstrating to demand Suharto resign. Before one such demonstration could begin, armed police shot several students from an overpass at a university. This lead to some of the worst rioting, pillaging and genocide in Indonesia’s history as plain-clothes military and police stormed through Chinatown raping the women and burning their shops and homes.
The multi-national company he was consulting for evacuated all expats and senior management to Singapore on a chartered plane. He was not on their evacuation call list because the company assumed the consulting firm had him covered under their evacuation plan. Unfortunately for Luke, the consulting company’s evacuation plan assumed the multi-national would evacuate him. He didn't even know an evacuation had occurred.
In the midst of this turmoil and confusion the system he supported crashed. His boss in the US, who was unaware of the situation in Jakarta, contacted him and asked him to go to the office and restore the system from backup tape. Unencumbered with family obligations, and braver than I would have been, he took the risk of going into the office.
He hailed a cab and, laying below the windows in the backseat, told the driver where to go. Other than tanks, very little traffic joined them as they navigated the main thoroughfares of Jakarta. After restoring the system, he chose not to return home. Instead, he checked into a hotel with a tank parked out front figuring that someone important must be holed up inside and it would be a safe place to spend the night.
Undeterred by the two days of rioting, Luke remained in Jakarta, married, and began a family. In 2004, radical groups were making a lot of noise throughout Indonesia. It had been two years since the Bali nightclub bombings that killed 202 people. In recent months terrorists had thrown bombs over the walls of various Western embassy compounds and the homes of the ambassadors. Expatriates were once again on high alert and Western embassy were issuing travel advisories (some of which remain in effect today).
Luke was working in a corner office on the top story of a building across the street from the Australian embassy. The building was undergoing renovations and, as a result, he was asked if he would mind swapping offices with another manager. He would be moving from a corner office with new wood furnishings, to a standard office with older furnishings. When he agreed to the move, the manager said he couldn’t believe Luke was willing to give up such a choice office.
Luke’s reply: “You won’t be saying that when they bomb the Australian Embassy.”
Two weeks later, Luke’s offhanded sarcasm proved prescient. Noordin Top, the mastermind behind the recent bombings of the Ritz Carlton and JW Marriott hotels, sent an operative of his Jemaah Islamiyah organization in a small delivery van filled with explosives to attempt and blow up the embassy . The blast did very little damage to the embassy itself, but Luke’s original office was destroyed. The new occupant had a severe gash in his head as the glass from the windows came crashing in. He was fortunate that he was not facing his computer, which was placed near the window, at the time of the blast. Instead, he was facing away from the window reviewing some papers. Had he been at the computer, he likely would have lost his life.
Luke was now at an office at the rear of the building. The shock wave from the blast took out the windows in the rear of the building and knocked the ceiling tiles loose. He was on the phone when the blast occurred and climbed under his desk. He remembered from the Bali bombings that the first bomb blast was to scare everyone into the streets where they set off a second bomb that achieved the most casualties. He wasn’t moving until he felt certain the bombs were done. He remained under the desk for several hours as everyone else evacuated the building.
Today, Luke remains an expat in Jakarta. He took the recent hotel bombings in stride: “been there, done that, sent the postcard, have the T-shirt”. His heart still races when a small delivery truck drives near his car, though he has stopped asking his driver to either speed up or slow down to avoid being next to it. One day he knows he will return to his homeland. For now, Indonesia is his home, for better or worse.
Discussing his story with him recently reminded me of a conversation I had with one of our expat friends who makes frequent trips to Pakistan as part of his business. We asked him if he feels safe with all the recent bombings. He said he did and shared a conversation he had with a Pakistani local whom he had asked the same question. The local answered:
“You know, I’m 58 years old and have lived in Karachi all my life. I see the reports in the press today of the ‘new security situation’. What is new about it? This is the way life is here. I’ve never known anything different.”
How we perceive and react to the events in the world today are, in large part, formed by the history we’ve seen and experienced. What I’ve learned in the last several months it that safety is a relative experience. Every place has hazards – earthquakes on the U.S. west coast, tornadoes in the Midwest, New Yorkers in the east – and everyone in those communities feel they are safe. So it is in Jakarta with bombings every few years.
Showing posts with label jakarta bombing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jakarta bombing. Show all posts
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Back to Normal
Life's little routines are often viewed as boring. I think of them as comforting. The routines are what make us so happy to return from a vacation, even if it was the best vacation of our lives. The moment you walk in the door to your house, to the familiar smells, the familiar furniture, the familiar life, you're immediately reengergized, even after a long flight. We are pre-programmed to appreciate the familiar, the routine.
My routine is firmly established, beyond work weekdays, don't work weekends. Monday evening is a session with my personal trainer. Right now, the focus is on my flexibility so we are doing yoga. Tuesdays I workout on my own and typically spend more time with my daughter at the park. Wednesday night is date night. We'll try a new restaurant, or a new activity, while our maid watches our daughter. Thursdays is another session with my trainer. Fridays are family movie night. We order in and watch a movie none of us have seen before that we all can enjoy. Saturdays is either errands or a family trip somewhere - like to the zoo. Saturday nights we typically all go to Hacienda, where by now they do recognize us, and know what we want to drink, our appetizer, and our special requests (like no rice for me because it is made with chicken stock). Sundays is our day of rest. We typically lounge by the pool, or just at home. I also usually hit the gym and get a massage. Once our stuff arrives (yep, still waiting on it), I'll have to figure out where my piano lessons will occur. Most likely on Tuesday nights after dinner.
This Wednesday, our date night was a visit to a new spa and dinner at Hacienda. The spa is directly across from Hacienda, and last time we were there I noticed they offered Thai massage. I read in a travel brochure for Bangkok that Thai massage is "the lazy man's yoga", and have wanted to give it a try. It was an interesting experience.
Unlike most massage, where you "undress to your comfort", for a Thai massage they have you wear a "gi". These are similar to the outfits martial artists wear. A towel wouldn't do much for modesty with all of the different stretching, pulling, and contorting involved in a Thai massage, so they have you wear the outfit. The masseuse used her hands, her feet, and all the strength she had to push, and pull, and stretch my body into a variety of different pretzel like positions for over an hour. At the end, I felt invigorated, not relaxed.
When receiving a massage I have two fears and/or rules: no arousal, no flatulence. The first one is typically only an issue if I fall asleep on the table. Natural part of the male sleep cycle (at least at my age) that I can't do anything about. So, I seldom fall asleep. The second one tends to pose a larger challenge for me and often results in tightening and/or clenching and a comment from my therapist that I need to "relax". Yeah, right. Be careful what you wish for. The pressure, twisting and contortions of the Thai massage made this second rule extremely challenging to live up to, though I did succeed.
I also got the impression that I'm not the typical client to request this type of massage. My 171 pounds (78 kg) took all of this poor, porcine professional's power. I could hear her struggling to lift my legs, or twist my dead weight. That's what I'm paying her to do, so no way am I helping the cause - I don't get maximum benefit if I do.
The biggest issue with her struggles wasn't necessarily the quality of my massage, it was that she began to sweat. Profusely. Glistening with slimy, salty sweat, her hands would slip slightly as she pulled on my arms, or pushed my legs. I couldn't relax. I kept thinking I would feel a wet, warm droplet of water fall on the back of my neck or, worse, my face. Even when she washed her hands so she could massage my face, her hands were still hot and sweaty. The end result being a thin film of dry saltiness on my face when she was done. I think she is used to the small, 90 pound Indonesian women. I don't think I'll be trying that again, at least not at that spa.
Around the city, everything else has returned to normal, too, with a few exceptions. First, the hotels are closed for business. The bombers took out the lobbies so it's hard to check people in. Second, there is enhanced security everywhere. My office building now has armed guards - military - out front. The security guard on my floor now has a wand like they use to check for bombs in bags when you enter a building. In my housing complex, they've increased security, too, and spend more time inspecting each vehicle. Despite all of the demanded increased vigilance, I've still arrived to the office and not been inspected, including the vehicle. If you're a bule, and arriving at 6 AM, I guess they think there is no chance of terrorism.
Even with the bombing in Jakarta, and the shootings in Papua, everyone here feels safe. To illustrate a point I made on a prior entry, I share with you the story of an expat family we know. They have two young boys. He works security for the US Department of State and is currently stationed at the US Embassy in Jakarta. He spent the day of the bombings at the hospital with the injured Americans. She, like most expat wives, doesn't work outside the home. Their assignment here is ending and, while awaiting their new post, they are returning to their home in Georgia (US). The wife recently confided to my wife how scared she is to be going home. She is scared of being a victim of violent crime in the US - robbery, shooting, anything. She feels safer here.
In many respects, I agree with her sentiments. I would not think twice about leaving my door unlocked at night here. I would not even dream of doing that in the US. I would not say I necessarily feel safer - though in many ways, I am. I would say that I do not feel less safe.
A few other quick notes:
1) We don't watch much TV. We watch a lot of movies and we read a lot - especially me. In four months, I've completed 12 books (those of the 400 page variety). I read at lunch, I read on the drive home, and I read at home. I need our stuff to arrive so I'm not overspending on books here. The English variety are not cheap.
2) I recently viewed a movie called "The Watchmen". I'd never heard of it, though apparently it has a large enough following to have a video game. It's an okay movie, and if you look past the comic-book superhero dreariness, there's two interesting messages. The first is that the only way we'll achieve world peace is if we can unite against a common enemy. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" - Sun Tzu, mentality. If you believe that we always kill each other over our differences and inability to find a common bond, as I do, you'll agree with that sentiment. World peace will exist only when we are fighting for the survival of our planet. The second message was that once you have world peace - no violence, nothing bad to report - the media won't know what to do. They are so focused on everything that's wrong, if all they can report is what is right with the world, they won't know what to do with themselves. Over the last few years I've grown to despise the media - the Fourth Estate. Social media - twitter, face book, blogs! - I find much more informative, if you can identify the truth from the pretenders.
3) Speaking of the press, it's been full of interesting articles this week that have ticked me off. First, a Harvard Professor needs a class on stress management. If I'm the cop, I probably would not arrest this jackass, but I also won't be responding to a call for help at his house anymore, either. If the police visit my house when I'm breaking into it because a neighbor sees someone forcibly entering, I'm glad to see him. The more he does to verify my identity before he leaves, the better I feel that no one other than me is able to break into my house and steal stuff. The second article is about the money-chasing liar in Lake Tahoe. Anyone who honestly believes that this woman isn't fabricating a story - one she had a year to refine - needs their head examined. Claims like hers diminish the claims of women who have truly been brutalized. Few things make me angrier then when a woman (or a family court) treat a man like a wallet. Finally, an article about another moronic, headline seeking Congressman. Is this really the nation's top priority? Is it even in the top 100? If this guy honestly believes an 18-year-old can save the Memphis Grizzlies he is losing his grasp on credulity. I actually sent that guy a letter. He actually said that the NBA is denying an 18-year-old the opportunity to support his family. How about focusing on why an 18-year-old kid has a family to support! When Congress becomes involved in private enterprise, especially an ENTERTAINMENT enterprise, I'm just dumbstruck. Since when did the NBA have anything to do with national security or the military industrial complex? Is Shaq holding patents that, if he sold them, would cause a complete collapse of our democracy? Geesh!
4) Finally, some interesting postings regarding the bombings. The Jakarta Post had an editorial asking for the heads of the security agencies to lose their jobs. There have also been some interesting articles from the Australian press that we've posted on our intranet at work and I can't find now. The most interesting one discussed the bomb at the JW Marriott. Apparently, it did not happen in the restaurant I've eaten at. Instead, the bomber walked into a meeting where leaders of industry in Jakarta met once a month. CEO and other executives of most major companies in Jakarta were in attendance. The article says this bomb, not the one at the Ritz, is the one that injured the Directors of my company. I've not seen any of our internal communications indicate which bomb caused their injuries. The latest update is that the bomb found on the 18th floor was supposed to be the first to go off. The plan was for that bomb to explode, causing guests to rush to the lobby, where the second bomb would explode.
My routine is firmly established, beyond work weekdays, don't work weekends. Monday evening is a session with my personal trainer. Right now, the focus is on my flexibility so we are doing yoga. Tuesdays I workout on my own and typically spend more time with my daughter at the park. Wednesday night is date night. We'll try a new restaurant, or a new activity, while our maid watches our daughter. Thursdays is another session with my trainer. Fridays are family movie night. We order in and watch a movie none of us have seen before that we all can enjoy. Saturdays is either errands or a family trip somewhere - like to the zoo. Saturday nights we typically all go to Hacienda, where by now they do recognize us, and know what we want to drink, our appetizer, and our special requests (like no rice for me because it is made with chicken stock). Sundays is our day of rest. We typically lounge by the pool, or just at home. I also usually hit the gym and get a massage. Once our stuff arrives (yep, still waiting on it), I'll have to figure out where my piano lessons will occur. Most likely on Tuesday nights after dinner.
This Wednesday, our date night was a visit to a new spa and dinner at Hacienda. The spa is directly across from Hacienda, and last time we were there I noticed they offered Thai massage. I read in a travel brochure for Bangkok that Thai massage is "the lazy man's yoga", and have wanted to give it a try. It was an interesting experience.
Unlike most massage, where you "undress to your comfort", for a Thai massage they have you wear a "gi". These are similar to the outfits martial artists wear. A towel wouldn't do much for modesty with all of the different stretching, pulling, and contorting involved in a Thai massage, so they have you wear the outfit. The masseuse used her hands, her feet, and all the strength she had to push, and pull, and stretch my body into a variety of different pretzel like positions for over an hour. At the end, I felt invigorated, not relaxed.
When receiving a massage I have two fears and/or rules: no arousal, no flatulence. The first one is typically only an issue if I fall asleep on the table. Natural part of the male sleep cycle (at least at my age) that I can't do anything about. So, I seldom fall asleep. The second one tends to pose a larger challenge for me and often results in tightening and/or clenching and a comment from my therapist that I need to "relax". Yeah, right. Be careful what you wish for. The pressure, twisting and contortions of the Thai massage made this second rule extremely challenging to live up to, though I did succeed.
I also got the impression that I'm not the typical client to request this type of massage. My 171 pounds (78 kg) took all of this poor, porcine professional's power. I could hear her struggling to lift my legs, or twist my dead weight. That's what I'm paying her to do, so no way am I helping the cause - I don't get maximum benefit if I do.
The biggest issue with her struggles wasn't necessarily the quality of my massage, it was that she began to sweat. Profusely. Glistening with slimy, salty sweat, her hands would slip slightly as she pulled on my arms, or pushed my legs. I couldn't relax. I kept thinking I would feel a wet, warm droplet of water fall on the back of my neck or, worse, my face. Even when she washed her hands so she could massage my face, her hands were still hot and sweaty. The end result being a thin film of dry saltiness on my face when she was done. I think she is used to the small, 90 pound Indonesian women. I don't think I'll be trying that again, at least not at that spa.
Around the city, everything else has returned to normal, too, with a few exceptions. First, the hotels are closed for business. The bombers took out the lobbies so it's hard to check people in. Second, there is enhanced security everywhere. My office building now has armed guards - military - out front. The security guard on my floor now has a wand like they use to check for bombs in bags when you enter a building. In my housing complex, they've increased security, too, and spend more time inspecting each vehicle. Despite all of the demanded increased vigilance, I've still arrived to the office and not been inspected, including the vehicle. If you're a bule, and arriving at 6 AM, I guess they think there is no chance of terrorism.
Even with the bombing in Jakarta, and the shootings in Papua, everyone here feels safe. To illustrate a point I made on a prior entry, I share with you the story of an expat family we know. They have two young boys. He works security for the US Department of State and is currently stationed at the US Embassy in Jakarta. He spent the day of the bombings at the hospital with the injured Americans. She, like most expat wives, doesn't work outside the home. Their assignment here is ending and, while awaiting their new post, they are returning to their home in Georgia (US). The wife recently confided to my wife how scared she is to be going home. She is scared of being a victim of violent crime in the US - robbery, shooting, anything. She feels safer here.
In many respects, I agree with her sentiments. I would not think twice about leaving my door unlocked at night here. I would not even dream of doing that in the US. I would not say I necessarily feel safer - though in many ways, I am. I would say that I do not feel less safe.
A few other quick notes:
1) We don't watch much TV. We watch a lot of movies and we read a lot - especially me. In four months, I've completed 12 books (those of the 400 page variety). I read at lunch, I read on the drive home, and I read at home. I need our stuff to arrive so I'm not overspending on books here. The English variety are not cheap.
2) I recently viewed a movie called "The Watchmen". I'd never heard of it, though apparently it has a large enough following to have a video game. It's an okay movie, and if you look past the comic-book superhero dreariness, there's two interesting messages. The first is that the only way we'll achieve world peace is if we can unite against a common enemy. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" - Sun Tzu, mentality. If you believe that we always kill each other over our differences and inability to find a common bond, as I do, you'll agree with that sentiment. World peace will exist only when we are fighting for the survival of our planet. The second message was that once you have world peace - no violence, nothing bad to report - the media won't know what to do. They are so focused on everything that's wrong, if all they can report is what is right with the world, they won't know what to do with themselves. Over the last few years I've grown to despise the media - the Fourth Estate. Social media - twitter, face book, blogs! - I find much more informative, if you can identify the truth from the pretenders.
3) Speaking of the press, it's been full of interesting articles this week that have ticked me off. First, a Harvard Professor needs a class on stress management. If I'm the cop, I probably would not arrest this jackass, but I also won't be responding to a call for help at his house anymore, either. If the police visit my house when I'm breaking into it because a neighbor sees someone forcibly entering, I'm glad to see him. The more he does to verify my identity before he leaves, the better I feel that no one other than me is able to break into my house and steal stuff. The second article is about the money-chasing liar in Lake Tahoe. Anyone who honestly believes that this woman isn't fabricating a story - one she had a year to refine - needs their head examined. Claims like hers diminish the claims of women who have truly been brutalized. Few things make me angrier then when a woman (or a family court) treat a man like a wallet. Finally, an article about another moronic, headline seeking Congressman. Is this really the nation's top priority? Is it even in the top 100? If this guy honestly believes an 18-year-old can save the Memphis Grizzlies he is losing his grasp on credulity. I actually sent that guy a letter. He actually said that the NBA is denying an 18-year-old the opportunity to support his family. How about focusing on why an 18-year-old kid has a family to support! When Congress becomes involved in private enterprise, especially an ENTERTAINMENT enterprise, I'm just dumbstruck. Since when did the NBA have anything to do with national security or the military industrial complex? Is Shaq holding patents that, if he sold them, would cause a complete collapse of our democracy? Geesh!
4) Finally, some interesting postings regarding the bombings. The Jakarta Post had an editorial asking for the heads of the security agencies to lose their jobs. There have also been some interesting articles from the Australian press that we've posted on our intranet at work and I can't find now. The most interesting one discussed the bomb at the JW Marriott. Apparently, it did not happen in the restaurant I've eaten at. Instead, the bomber walked into a meeting where leaders of industry in Jakarta met once a month. CEO and other executives of most major companies in Jakarta were in attendance. The article says this bomb, not the one at the Ritz, is the one that injured the Directors of my company. I've not seen any of our internal communications indicate which bomb caused their injuries. The latest update is that the bomb found on the 18th floor was supposed to be the first to go off. The plan was for that bomb to explode, causing guests to rush to the lobby, where the second bomb would explode.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Jakarta Bombings
Let me start by saying that my family and I are safe and were never in any danger. Like most of Jakarta, we are a little bit on edge. With the exception of avoiding crowded, public places (like malls and restaurants) over the three day weekend, we are not planning on altering our activities.
For all of us, the day started like any other, and I think that is what contributes to the sense of unease. I was at work by 6 AM, my wife and daughter were up and preparing for a day at school. At 7:45 AM, I was on the phone with my boss in Phoenix. Hearing loud "booms" in my office are pretty common. Large trucks drive by or through the alleys around our building, bounce over speed bumps, and the noise carries. When I heard the loud boom and felt my building shake, I stood up and looked out the window. The boom was louder than normal, and the building had never shaken before. When I saw nothing out of the ordinary outside - people walking calmly, kids still playing soccer - I figured it was nothing.
At 8 AM, I had a meeting in my office. About 8:10, a colleague who is our floor warden for emergencies interrupted the meeting and said we had an emergency and I needed to talk with her right now. That's when I found out that two bombs had gone off in the Kunigan district near the JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels.
Our first response was to call and account for the safety of all our employees. Half my staff was either on site or en route. A few of my staff, who travel by the hotels on their way in, missed the explosions by less than five minutes.
Once we had accounted for everyone, we started scouring the Internet. I was at a disadvantage as all the local - bahasa only - sites had the news first. English language sites - CNN, Yahoo, MSNBC - didn't have anything posted until about 45 minutes after the first Indonesian site. While surfing, I phoned my wife and told her to keep our daughter home from school. Then I called my parents to let them know I was safe, and sent an email out to the rest of the family delivering the same message.
As you can imagine, any moment of free time throughout the day was spent reading the news updates about the incident. It's situations like these that show just how useful and powerful the Internet can be. It was fascinating to watch the stories evolve as more information became available. Initial reports were of the bombing and of known casualties. Updates soon included where the bombs exploded, where the victims were from, eye witness accounts. One site even had a list of 15 names who had been injured.
Around 10 AM, our company sent out a memo with an update on the incident - a busy week for our internal communications team. The memo explained what had happened and informed us that two of our employees were hurt in the blast. Several people have told me who they are and what the injuries are - non-life threatening - but, as they haven't been confirmed (and our company VP is not telling the press citing company policy), I won't repeat them here.
I was surprised both by my reaction and that of my employees and colleagues. My mind absorbed the situation calmly and with clarity of thought. My body began showing signs of stress, and still does as I type this 12 hours later. I can feel the bile in my stomach and the cortisone in my muscles. My staff, after confirming their family was safe, more or less took it in stride. When a rumor circulated that management was having us go home, some asked if it was mandatory or if they could continue working. To some extent, I felt the same way. I felt very safe in my office, and wasn't sure if being in a car, stuck in heavy traffic, was very safe.
Many people started talking about the last time there were bombings. The target that time was the Australian Embassy, which is directly across the street from our office. That was a car bomb that wiped out every window in the front of our building, and half the windows down the alleyway. Our windows are now "bomb resistant" as a result. The cleanup of that bombing included the discovery of pinkie fingers embedded in the ceiling tiles on the twelfth floor of our building. Anyone who was in an office that faced the street was badly injured.
Our primary meeting room, with video conferencing, faces the street. My office is at the rear of the building, as far away from the street as you can get. My office doubled as a meeting room for the day.
I continue to watch the story develop, but I'm very cautious about what to believe. If the current media-caused recession has taught us anything, it is that the media presents what it wants to, not necessarily the truth. Having seen the press in Singapore and Jakarta, I can tell you that the Western press does anything it can to scare people, while other papers tend to be more balanced in the types of stories they report. So, expect the Western media to tell you that this was an attack on Westerners, Western interests, intended to combat the Western way of life. This is what I'm seeing at this point, anyway.
I've seen reports blaming Muslim extremists. The newly elected President of Indonesia had a different perspective in the news conference he held at the site of the bombings. According to my driver, who watched the speech on TV, the President accused one of the opposing candidates of coordinating the attack to discredit him politically. This candidate, apparently, was a general at the time the military looted and raped wealthy Chinese in the late 90's (I spoke of this on one of my prior blogs). Interesting political candidates they have here. I have seen no reports of this in Western media.
I'm sure other conspiracies will surface. Possibly even one that says the President coordinated the effort so he could blame his political rival. Anything is possible. Bottom line, don't believe any guesses, conjecture, or theories at this point. They will only scare you.
The two hotels attacked - JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton - are the two hotels I've stayed at before I lived here. I've eaten in both restaurants that were the targets. My family and I ate breakfast every morning in the lobby buffet at the JW Marriott when we stayed there waiting for our housing on our move out here.
Many of the news reports have commentary from people who have stayed at the hotels that they are surprised these attacks could happen there. I share this perspective. I've made several comments on this blog on how tight the security is. They examine every car, they examine every person. It's like screening to board a plane just to enter the building. How anyone brought explosives into these hotels is just amazing to me.
That said, it was just two weeks ago when my wife and I had commented to each other how perfunctorily the security teams performed their tasks. One of the tasks is to walk around the entire car with a mirror and look underneath to see if there is a bomb. On several occasions, we've seen the person make the trip around the car without ever actually looking at the mirror. Often, if they see a foreigner in the car, they won't even inspect it. I don't think they will be so lax any longer - at least not in the immediate future.
I left the office a little earlier than normal, but not much. The building security is requiring us to enter and leave from the rear and have our badges visible at all times in the building. The drive home took 20 minutes. For the most part, the streets were empty. I've never seen so few cars on this road at that time of day. I've also never seen so many police officers. Every corner, every light, had four or five officers directing traffic. I felt very safe driving home, except when we had to stop. With the terrorist's proclivity for car bombs, being stuck in a pack of cars and motorcycles with no way out was not exactly what I was hoping for on my drive home.
My wife said that our neighborhood had been eerily quiet all day, too. No one was walking the streets, no one was at the park. The drive home, and the feel in the neighborhood, reminded me of when we had the Phoenix Sniper killings near my neighborhood. The streets usually busy every morning with walkers transformed into a ghost town. I think the malls and restaurants of Jakarta will be that way for several weeks to come. My driver told me that there were reports of an undetonated bomb in a building we drive by on our way to Hacienda. That's why we ordered take out for dinner tonight.
The latest news reports coming in while I've written this indicate that the bombers were staying in room 1808 at the JW Marriott. I've actually stayed in that exact room.
I'll continue to keep everyone posted.
For all of us, the day started like any other, and I think that is what contributes to the sense of unease. I was at work by 6 AM, my wife and daughter were up and preparing for a day at school. At 7:45 AM, I was on the phone with my boss in Phoenix. Hearing loud "booms" in my office are pretty common. Large trucks drive by or through the alleys around our building, bounce over speed bumps, and the noise carries. When I heard the loud boom and felt my building shake, I stood up and looked out the window. The boom was louder than normal, and the building had never shaken before. When I saw nothing out of the ordinary outside - people walking calmly, kids still playing soccer - I figured it was nothing.
At 8 AM, I had a meeting in my office. About 8:10, a colleague who is our floor warden for emergencies interrupted the meeting and said we had an emergency and I needed to talk with her right now. That's when I found out that two bombs had gone off in the Kunigan district near the JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels.
Our first response was to call and account for the safety of all our employees. Half my staff was either on site or en route. A few of my staff, who travel by the hotels on their way in, missed the explosions by less than five minutes.
Once we had accounted for everyone, we started scouring the Internet. I was at a disadvantage as all the local - bahasa only - sites had the news first. English language sites - CNN, Yahoo, MSNBC - didn't have anything posted until about 45 minutes after the first Indonesian site. While surfing, I phoned my wife and told her to keep our daughter home from school. Then I called my parents to let them know I was safe, and sent an email out to the rest of the family delivering the same message.
As you can imagine, any moment of free time throughout the day was spent reading the news updates about the incident. It's situations like these that show just how useful and powerful the Internet can be. It was fascinating to watch the stories evolve as more information became available. Initial reports were of the bombing and of known casualties. Updates soon included where the bombs exploded, where the victims were from, eye witness accounts. One site even had a list of 15 names who had been injured.
Around 10 AM, our company sent out a memo with an update on the incident - a busy week for our internal communications team. The memo explained what had happened and informed us that two of our employees were hurt in the blast. Several people have told me who they are and what the injuries are - non-life threatening - but, as they haven't been confirmed (and our company VP is not telling the press citing company policy), I won't repeat them here.
I was surprised both by my reaction and that of my employees and colleagues. My mind absorbed the situation calmly and with clarity of thought. My body began showing signs of stress, and still does as I type this 12 hours later. I can feel the bile in my stomach and the cortisone in my muscles. My staff, after confirming their family was safe, more or less took it in stride. When a rumor circulated that management was having us go home, some asked if it was mandatory or if they could continue working. To some extent, I felt the same way. I felt very safe in my office, and wasn't sure if being in a car, stuck in heavy traffic, was very safe.
Many people started talking about the last time there were bombings. The target that time was the Australian Embassy, which is directly across the street from our office. That was a car bomb that wiped out every window in the front of our building, and half the windows down the alleyway. Our windows are now "bomb resistant" as a result. The cleanup of that bombing included the discovery of pinkie fingers embedded in the ceiling tiles on the twelfth floor of our building. Anyone who was in an office that faced the street was badly injured.
Our primary meeting room, with video conferencing, faces the street. My office is at the rear of the building, as far away from the street as you can get. My office doubled as a meeting room for the day.
I continue to watch the story develop, but I'm very cautious about what to believe. If the current media-caused recession has taught us anything, it is that the media presents what it wants to, not necessarily the truth. Having seen the press in Singapore and Jakarta, I can tell you that the Western press does anything it can to scare people, while other papers tend to be more balanced in the types of stories they report. So, expect the Western media to tell you that this was an attack on Westerners, Western interests, intended to combat the Western way of life. This is what I'm seeing at this point, anyway.
I've seen reports blaming Muslim extremists. The newly elected President of Indonesia had a different perspective in the news conference he held at the site of the bombings. According to my driver, who watched the speech on TV, the President accused one of the opposing candidates of coordinating the attack to discredit him politically. This candidate, apparently, was a general at the time the military looted and raped wealthy Chinese in the late 90's (I spoke of this on one of my prior blogs). Interesting political candidates they have here. I have seen no reports of this in Western media.
I'm sure other conspiracies will surface. Possibly even one that says the President coordinated the effort so he could blame his political rival. Anything is possible. Bottom line, don't believe any guesses, conjecture, or theories at this point. They will only scare you.
The two hotels attacked - JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton - are the two hotels I've stayed at before I lived here. I've eaten in both restaurants that were the targets. My family and I ate breakfast every morning in the lobby buffet at the JW Marriott when we stayed there waiting for our housing on our move out here.
Many of the news reports have commentary from people who have stayed at the hotels that they are surprised these attacks could happen there. I share this perspective. I've made several comments on this blog on how tight the security is. They examine every car, they examine every person. It's like screening to board a plane just to enter the building. How anyone brought explosives into these hotels is just amazing to me.
That said, it was just two weeks ago when my wife and I had commented to each other how perfunctorily the security teams performed their tasks. One of the tasks is to walk around the entire car with a mirror and look underneath to see if there is a bomb. On several occasions, we've seen the person make the trip around the car without ever actually looking at the mirror. Often, if they see a foreigner in the car, they won't even inspect it. I don't think they will be so lax any longer - at least not in the immediate future.
I left the office a little earlier than normal, but not much. The building security is requiring us to enter and leave from the rear and have our badges visible at all times in the building. The drive home took 20 minutes. For the most part, the streets were empty. I've never seen so few cars on this road at that time of day. I've also never seen so many police officers. Every corner, every light, had four or five officers directing traffic. I felt very safe driving home, except when we had to stop. With the terrorist's proclivity for car bombs, being stuck in a pack of cars and motorcycles with no way out was not exactly what I was hoping for on my drive home.
My wife said that our neighborhood had been eerily quiet all day, too. No one was walking the streets, no one was at the park. The drive home, and the feel in the neighborhood, reminded me of when we had the Phoenix Sniper killings near my neighborhood. The streets usually busy every morning with walkers transformed into a ghost town. I think the malls and restaurants of Jakarta will be that way for several weeks to come. My driver told me that there were reports of an undetonated bomb in a building we drive by on our way to Hacienda. That's why we ordered take out for dinner tonight.
The latest news reports coming in while I've written this indicate that the bombers were staying in room 1808 at the JW Marriott. I've actually stayed in that exact room.
I'll continue to keep everyone posted.
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