Harassment by Customs Lets Country Down The Jakarta Globe, Wednesday, 7 January 2009
I am writing this letter in the hopes that something can be done about my harrowing experience with customs at the Jakarta airport. I was visiting the city for New Year’s. It was my first time to do so and I was really excited to spend four days with friends and family based there. I arrived via Singapore Airlines on Dec. 30 on the flight that landed at 9:55 p.m. I went through immigration without a problem. So far, so good. That was before I reached customs. Two customs officers stopped me and told me to open my luggage, which I promptly did. They then asked me to go with them to the quarantine room where they questioned me regarding the food I had in my luggage, mostly packaged biscuits and sweets meant to be given as presents and for personal consumption. One of the two men finally made clear the reason they were singling me out, saying: “Do you have dollar? Give me money. I want $30.” He was indicating that if I did not give him money, he would take away the food I had. “I don’t have any money,” I told him. At this time, I could already feel anger building up with me, but I was helpless to do anything about the situation. “You can have the food if you want it,” I said. “But I’m not paying you. If you are supposed to charge me, then give me a receipt. I will use a credit card to pay you.” The customs official had the gall to ask if I had a Citibank credit card. I told him no. When I said my sister was waiting for me outside, he told me to go and ask her for money. I was already tired from traveling the whole day and the harassment was starting to get to me. I could feel myself get really upset. I have never experienced this kind of corruption in my life. To get everything over and done with, I decided to give the men the loose change I had with me. They gave my food back except for one package of sweets which he said he wanted to try. The harrowing ordeal lasted for half an hour. When I saw my sister waiting for me after I got to the arrival area, I burst into tears because I was traumatized by the whole thing. Because I was so upset, I did not even have the presence of mind to get the names of the two officers who harassed me. I should have gotten their names so they could be properly reprimanded, if such a thing can actually be done. I hope this is not the usual way that Indonesia welcomes its visitors who bring in revenue to the country. What those two officers did was a shame and an embarrassment! Anna United Arab Emirates resident Sumber: THE JAKARTA GLOBE URL: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/opinion/letters/article/5225.html ___________________________________________________________________________ Dapatkan nama yang Anda sukai! Sekarang Anda dapat memiliki email di @ymail.com dan @rocketmail.com. http://mail.promotions.yahoo.com/newdomains/id/ ------------------------------------ http://www.SuratPembaca.info Komunitas Surat Pembaca IndonesiaYahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/surat-pembaca/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/surat-pembaca/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[email protected] mailto:[email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
