All the rage - at kids' sports
An amazing incident at a grade 2/3 basketball game at Jakarta International School (JIS) last month has resulted in the head of the national Foreign Investment Board losing his job and being investigated for assault and an American family leaving Indonesia, it seems, for good.
It all started when an American mother (M1) of one child playing in the game began to press the referee (a 14 year old student) to eject a boy playing for the opposing team - the son of the Govt official ( F2) - for fouling. In basketball there is a system of 'personal fouls' being totted up and after the 5th, the player is ejected from the game. The referee did not grant M1's wish apparently because the boy had not yet been 'fouled out' on accumulated personal fouls. M1 then pressed the coach of the opposing team to pull the boy off but he too said the boy had not been technically 'fouled out' yet.
M1 then approached the adjudicators table and demand that they instruct the referee to eject the boy. The mother (M2) of the boy in question went over to the table to find out what was going on and a heated exchange boiled over when the brother of M2 and the husband(F1) of M1 plus a few other spectators/parents then, eventually F2 went to join in the debate.
F2 was allegedly called 'stupid' and an 'idiot' - most foreigners here have no idea how much more offensive these words are to Indonesians than they are to them. F2 was also (allegedly) called a "corrupt Indonesian ba$tard"
F2 started lashing out and, along with his brother-in-law, got in a few good punches. F1 alledgedly received a broken nose and several other people who went in to try and break it up also got punched for their troubles ! F2 said he would get all these people in trouble and deported from the country. He also told F1 that he would send 1000 men round to his house !
(F2, incidentally, was apparently responsible for processing the work permits for about 100 of the teachers at JIS and probably for most of the foreigner parents in the place, including F1 !)
A few days later it was front page news in the newspapers here and made it into some of the international press.
The Ambassador of the USA has been involved and, right in the middle of the big Asia-Africa congress in Indonesia that week, even the President of Indonesia was personally involved.
F2 went on a 'business trip' to Europe and M1 & F2 departed Indonesia with their kids.
Now the police are investigating the assault even though no-one has filed a complaint.
Editorials mocked F1 and wondered if he would take up boxing as his next career move. They also held this up as an example of the detrimental effect on Indonesia as a whole that comes from arrogant officials who feel they have impunity from the law.
For the assault, he could face up to 2 years in prison (and in Indonesia the police do not need a victim to press the charges for assault). The threats he made carry a bigger penalty (4 years in prison) but that can only be invoked if someone presses charges.
The other consequences from this nonsense are that:
7/8 year old kids had to witness adults behaving in such a manner.
Basketball games at JIS have no scoreboard now and the score is not kept, the games are just for fun now and not for winning
Sports at JIS now have security guards sat amongst the spectators !
The American Ambassador and the President of the Rep. of Indonesia certainly have more important matters to discuss than a fight at a kids basketball game.
There is never a dull moment in Indonesia but rarely has something caused this much talk over dinner.
