One of the most striking aspects of last week’s terrorist attack in Central Jakarta was how crowds gathered around the location of the blast to witness an ongoing gun battle between the police and the remainder of the attackers, as evidenced by the photo above.
Thankfully, nobody in the crowd was injured in the violence. But Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama said that he hopes people will be more cautious in the future.
“The public must learn not to form crowds around [police shootouts], it could confuse authorities as to who is friend or foe,” Ahok said, as quoted by Kompas today.
Were members of the crowd keen to prove #KamiTidakTakut (We are not afraid?)? Or were they simply looking to get cool selfies at the sight of a deadly attack? No doubt a mixture of that and morbid curiosity.
Regardless, Ahok is right in that we should place the utmost importance on personal safety and immediately get to a safe place when a deadly attack happens.
But something tells us the governor’s words will go unheeded. After all, it seems like Indonesian can turn any terrible tragedy into a tourist attraction.
