Monday, August 28, 2006
The Cost of a Driving License
Learnt a big lesson: dress appropriately, whatever the occasion.
Looks like I have picked up certain bad habits about dressing from my years in S'pore. S'poreans, for e.g., simply dun bother dressing up when they go to watch plays or for concerts. The churches that I had attended there had also been pretty casual when it comes to dressing. I remember Mike and Mel assuring someone that in The Third Place, we welcome you even if you come in flip-flops, and he was so happy to hear that. He said that in the past, he did not want to consider Christianity because a church he went to did not welcome him when he came with slippers. I like how "cool" and unjudgemental we are :) And I do think it is less an issue about social propriety than how our outer appearance shd reflect our inner respect and love for our God when it comes to dressing to go to church. But I realised that I must also keep in mind cultural norms as I go to different places and dress to respect that.
Ok, in case you are all wondering what I have been rambling about, I went to the central traffic police station in Jakarta to make my driving license on Sat, after waiting for months! Must confess that, yesh, it is a "kopi" license :p That's why I had to wait so long for them to give a green light, cos they regularly "clamp" down on such business from time to time. So all it was gonna be was a photo-taking session.
Since it was a Saturday, I decided to be fashionable and wear culottes with a cotton blouse, something that all fashionista Indo Chinese ladies are wearing. Except that theirs reach nicely to their knees and mine doesn't.
The moment we tried to enter the building, a policeman looked exceedingly upset and asked if I am a foreigner; why was I wearing shorts? But he let me pass, shaking his head disgustedly all the while. I felt upset, but thought that was the end of my trouble. Right? Very wrong.
As I entered another section, the policewoman called me back. She put out both hands to point at me, asking why was I dressed like that? Told me that was an office and that I had to go back home to change. Said to my Dad that that was an office, not the marketplace. So I handed them back the pass and left, wishing I could climb into a hole there and then.
We solved the prob by driving to somewhere nearby (made far by the noon time traffic jam), get a pair of cheap pants to wear and managed to get in. I could barely smile by the time, although the officer in charge of taking photos was nice and even asked if I wanna take a few more to get a better shot. Sigh...lesson learnt indeed.
On a nicer note, I drove to work today. Not bad at all; managed to weave thru the sardine of a traffic jam and impatient and inconsiderate drivers here. I think Dad felt that his student has turned out pretty ok. The key to driving in a chaotic road condition like here is to be really alert all the time, not give in to fear and look for "opportunities" esp at jams. Considering that even my uncles from S'pore don't dare to drive here, I feel really proud of myself! Hahahaa...oops....I'm seriously becoming too conceited for my own good :p Just learnt to walk and now I'm thinking of flying! There is still a lot of room for improvement, really. Hopefully soon I can help drive parts of the distance when we go to other cities.
Looks like I have picked up certain bad habits about dressing from my years in S'pore. S'poreans, for e.g., simply dun bother dressing up when they go to watch plays or for concerts. The churches that I had attended there had also been pretty casual when it comes to dressing. I remember Mike and Mel assuring someone that in The Third Place, we welcome you even if you come in flip-flops, and he was so happy to hear that. He said that in the past, he did not want to consider Christianity because a church he went to did not welcome him when he came with slippers. I like how "cool" and unjudgemental we are :) And I do think it is less an issue about social propriety than how our outer appearance shd reflect our inner respect and love for our God when it comes to dressing to go to church. But I realised that I must also keep in mind cultural norms as I go to different places and dress to respect that.
Ok, in case you are all wondering what I have been rambling about, I went to the central traffic police station in Jakarta to make my driving license on Sat, after waiting for months! Must confess that, yesh, it is a "kopi" license :p That's why I had to wait so long for them to give a green light, cos they regularly "clamp" down on such business from time to time. So all it was gonna be was a photo-taking session.
Since it was a Saturday, I decided to be fashionable and wear culottes with a cotton blouse, something that all fashionista Indo Chinese ladies are wearing. Except that theirs reach nicely to their knees and mine doesn't.
The moment we tried to enter the building, a policeman looked exceedingly upset and asked if I am a foreigner; why was I wearing shorts? But he let me pass, shaking his head disgustedly all the while. I felt upset, but thought that was the end of my trouble. Right? Very wrong.
As I entered another section, the policewoman called me back. She put out both hands to point at me, asking why was I dressed like that? Told me that was an office and that I had to go back home to change. Said to my Dad that that was an office, not the marketplace. So I handed them back the pass and left, wishing I could climb into a hole there and then.
We solved the prob by driving to somewhere nearby (made far by the noon time traffic jam), get a pair of cheap pants to wear and managed to get in. I could barely smile by the time, although the officer in charge of taking photos was nice and even asked if I wanna take a few more to get a better shot. Sigh...lesson learnt indeed.
On a nicer note, I drove to work today. Not bad at all; managed to weave thru the sardine of a traffic jam and impatient and inconsiderate drivers here. I think Dad felt that his student has turned out pretty ok. The key to driving in a chaotic road condition like here is to be really alert all the time, not give in to fear and look for "opportunities" esp at jams. Considering that even my uncles from S'pore don't dare to drive here, I feel really proud of myself! Hahahaa...oops....I'm seriously becoming too conceited for my own good :p Just learnt to walk and now I'm thinking of flying! There is still a lot of room for improvement, really. Hopefully soon I can help drive parts of the distance when we go to other cities.
// posted by Jenn @ 12:10 AM 
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