Arrested by Civil Service Police Force

This story started when I played on the theater for the final test for 7^th semester student at Theater Major at my campus, Institute of the Arts of Indonesia (ISI), Padangpanjang. Alhamdulillah, the program ran smoothly. I played in pairs with Robert, a student of Theater Major class of 2008, and I was a student of Television and Film Major who liked theater.

Although less talented and had mediocre acting, I was proud that I could be trusted to play on a theater. At that time I played as Lingga from the script titled ‘Sebelum Bebas’ (Before Free). On this script, Lingga was a former journalist who was a victim of New Order era injustice. He wanted freedom that he dreamed of. Maybe Lingga’s story wasn’t much different from my experience after I played on theater yesterday.

It was late at that time, around 9 PM. We intended to have dinner at Padangpanjang Market. My girlfriend, just call her Mawar (Rose/pseudonym), Yudi (pseudonym), Melati (Jasmine/pseudonym) and I walked to the market because it was nears the campus. At first, I felt less comfortable all the way there, because I was fighting with Mawar, and it made Yudi and Melati walking faster, maybe they felt uncomfortable to see us fighting. After we were outside the campus gate, the atmosphere was rather quiet. We were fighting all the way because Mawar had felt ignored because I had been busy practicing the play. Finally I apologized.

After we arrived at the market, so many people watched us both, but we tried to not pay any attention. Then we called Yudi and Melati. “Where are you, Cuy?” Yudi’s nickname, “We are at fried rice and grilled chicken stall,” Yudi answered through the cell phone. We both then immediately went there. Yudi and Melati had already ordered fried rice and grilled chicken maybe they were already starving waiting for us. Then Mawar also ordered fried rice and grilled chicken. I didn’t eat anything because I had eaten wrapped rice from Indah, the play director, so I didn’t eat with them.

When we were in the middle of dinner, I didn’t know why suddenly Yudi and Melati fought. The unique thing was, every time Mawar and I fought and then made up, not long after that they fought too. I didn’t know what the reason was, maybe because we often went double date.

My girlfriend and I tried to stop their fight. They then made up and we continued our dinner.

After dinner, we plan to go home to our rented rooms. While walking Mawar said that she had a little headache and her body was limp. Along the way people watched us. Yudi and I stop for a minute at a stall to buy cigarettes. We told Mawar and Melati to walk beforehand because it was uncomfortable to be watched by people at the market. After buying the cigarettes we both then immediately follow them. They complained all the way because they felt uncomfortable to be watched by people at the market. Well, they were what we usually called ‘Village’ people.

After we arrived in an alley or the way toward our place, we passed a dark town park. We all were scared, so we decided to go through an alternative street. Inadvertently Yudi saw a pair of lovers in the park. As far as we knew, there was a rule that said that after 10 PM people were prohibited to enter a park area, let alone dating. But this time we ignored it.

When we entered the street that led to our place, Mawar had felt that she could no longer walk because her headache became worse and her body was getting weak. As Mawar walked, she leaned on my body while holding my hand. Yudi and Melati walked in front of us, the distance between them and us was rather far. After walking for about 10 meters, suddenly two men were coming on a motorbike and stopped right in front of me. They turned out to be the members of Satpol PP (Civil Service Police Force who were assigned to enforce the Local Regulation Law) and we startled.

They asked us, “Where do you want to go?”

“We want to go home to our rented rooms, Sir!”

“Where from?”

“We just got dinner at the market, Sir.”

“What are you doing together just two of you at a dark place like this?”

“It’s not just the two of us. It’s the four of us. Those are my friends in front!”

“Come on… too many excuses!”

“I swear, Sir!”

“You have already broken the Local Regulation Law.”

“What is that, Sir?”

“Where do you come from?”

“I come from Bogor and this friend of mine is from Jambi.”

“Where do you go to college?”

“STSI…”

“Oh… you have to be taken to the office for further investigation.”

“What have we done? I thought we both haven’t done anything wrong!”

“I got a report from people around that you have been making out along the way, hugging and kissing. You have already broken the Local Regulation.”

“What? No, Sir! The report wasn’t right. My friend has been having a headache and her body was limp. That was why she leaned on my body as she walked.”

Then Yudi and Melati came.

“What’s wrong, Sir? They are my friends,” Yudi said.

“You’ve already broken the Local Regulation. After 10 PM the non-mahram couple is prohibited to hang around, so you have to be taken to the office to be investigated further.”

“Can’t it just be settled here, Sir?”

“We can’t, because I’ve already reported to the people at the office to pick you up.”

Not long after that, a patrol car of Civil Service Police Force that would take both of us came. Mawar rode in the officer’s car and I rode on other motorbike of the Civil Service Police Force. I actually really wanted to know how it felt to ride in the back of officer’s car, but maybe because too many people were in this unit, there wasn’t enough space for me. I didn’t know why my friends Yudi and Melati didn’t have to come with us to the office. Yudi asked about this to the officers, but one of them said, “No, you don’t have to come, just go home.”

After we arrived at Civil Service Police Force’s office, I was asked about my full personal data by an officer. His face seemed stern. At first I was a little bit scared. He asked my full name and my address. After knowing that I went to ISI, he said that it wasn’t strange anymore, because according to him there had been many students of ISI who had already ‘paid a visit’ here.

When Mawar was asked about her full personal data, she lied. Maybe because she was afraid, she claimed to be a student of ISI too and rented a room in Padangpanjang. But when asked about her rented room address she couldn’t explain the full address. Finally I explained to that officer that actually she went to Andalas University, Padang and rented a room there. Mawar seemed frightened being shouted at because of her lie, but I couldn’t do anything. Then he examined our IDs, cell phones, and other stuff. They said they were afraid there were porn videos in them. Because my phone happened to be out of date, so it didn’t take time to examine it. But because Mawar’s phone was too sophisticated, it took a little more time to examine it. After a few moments examining it, the officer finally gave it back. I thought the examination was finished, but apparently the officer didn’t know how to open the key lock on Mawar’s cell phone. I tried to suppress my laughter. At that moment, I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to laugh but was afraid of being scolded. But if I suppressed my laughter, I will get a stomachache. So with all my power I resisted the urge to laugh at all. After Mawar opened her phone’s key lock, that officer continued to examine that cell phone, while asking whether there was a porn video or not on the phone. “Of course there isn’t, Sir!” Mawar answered. On that phone there were only my pictures. After he finished examining it, both of us were investigated further in separate rooms.

After I entered the room, I was asked where I went to college and why I was arrested. The officer said, “If you really aren’t guilty, maybe it would only take a moment then you could go after that, as long as you are honest and your answer and your friend’s answer are the same. So, for the time being, you wait here. I will call the officer who will interview you.”

Not long after that first officer was out, I was told to wait outside. Apparently that night it wasn’t only us that were arrested by Civil Service Police Force. There were three other people who were arrested. Two of them were a couple, and the other one was a hooker. Not long after that my friends Yogi, Fandi and Yoga came. Maybe they had intended to help and wanted to know what the problem was that I was arrested by the Civil Service Police Force.

At first, my three friends and I chatted while cheering me up. It turned out that Yoga was a former offender of Civil Service Police Force too. The four of us then laughed hysterically until we were scolded by the officer. Not long after that, I was called to enter the office again. It turned out that I recognized the person who interviewed me, but I forgot his name. I’d met him on campus at the inauguration of the Student Press Activity Unit. I pretended not to know him. Maybe he forgot about me too. His name was Jhon. He asked me why I was arrested. Then I explained to him why I was arrested. I was accused of doing immoral thing on the street, whereas I only helped my girlfriend who was limp and not feeling well. After that, Bang Jhon asked me how further we were in this relationship. Initially, I didn’t want to confess, but he kept threatening that if I wasn’t honest, I would undergo a long examination process. Finally I answered honestly that during my relationship with Mawar, the furthest we’d ever done was only kissing. We’d been in a relationship for about 3-4 months. I’d met Mawar in Padang. At that time, she had been doing a Drama exam at Padang Cultural Park. I’d been introduced to her by Fandi, Yudi and Culil who happened to be their drama crews.

After that, Bang Jhon asked me if I liked Jamrud’s music. At first I was surprised that he suddenly asked about Jamrud Band, a rock band from Bandung. I answered, “Well, I quite like them, I happened to like Jamrud’s songs so much when I was in Elementary School.” This thing reminded me of the time when my father had bought a VCD for karaoke at home. Besides the oldies, he had also bought CD of Jamrud. Even though I didn’t know much about all of their songs, but there were a few songs that I knew. Finally we talked about the development of Jamrud’s music. Then Bang Jhon asked me again,

“Do you often watch porn?” asked Bang Jhon.

“Sometimes, Bang. Why?”

“I have porn on my cell phone, do you want to see?”

“No, Bang!” I answered.

But he kept telling me to see it, “Watch this, do you think it is good?”

“It’s pretty good, Bang!” I said.

Because we discussed unimportant things for too long, I then asked,

“Bang, is the interview over?”

“Not yet!” He answered.

I was surprised to hear that, after talking much too long about things that had nothing to do with my problem. It turned out he offered me to marry my girlfriend that very night. I was shocked to hear it. As I swallowed, I asked him, “Are you serious, Bang?” He answered, “Yes, we have the authority to marry off you here because you have already broken the Local Regulation.”

As I put my miserable face on, I said, “Can’t you give us leniency, Bang? I only broke the time regulation, I didn’t do anything. If I got married now, what would I give to my wife, Bang? Can’t we bargain, Bang?”

He asked again whether I knew Fadly and Rian.

“If I’m not mistaken, I know Fadly, but maybe not Rian. They both are students of Theater Major, class of 2008. Why, Bang?”

“They both are my friends, they often come here.”

“You mean they got arrested?”

“They often help us here. Okay, I will call them.”

As he waited for the call to be connected, he also asked me if I knew Mr. Katil.

“Oh, I knew him, Bang, he was my lecturer!” then Bang Jhon went out.

Not long after that, Rian came and greeted me. It turned out that I knew him, but not close enough. Then Bang Jhon came inside again and asked if it was only the two of us that came here.

I then answered, “Yes, but before, there were actually four of us on the street.”

“Then how come it’s only the two of you that came here? Where are your friends? They didn’t get arrested? Why did the two of them not come with you here?”

“I don’t know, the officer who arrested me said that my friends didn’t need to come.”

“Oh my! They should’ve come! Call your friends!”

“Bang, my cell phone is kept by your friend outside.”

“Alright, I’ll go get it, and then you’ll try to contact your friends, tell them to come here. If they can’t, then you and your girlfriend have to sleep here from tonight until tomorrow morning, whether you want to or not!”

Without much thinking, I called Yudi and Melati. “Cuy, hurry, come here, help me!” Then Yudi and Melati came. Melati was immediately called to enter the room with Mawar in it. Yudi and I waited outside.

Not long after that, Mawar and Melati came out, smiling. And finally the four of us could go home that night under the condition that we had to report back tomorrow morning at 8 AM bringing 6000 IDR stamp for the letter of agreement. We went home together with Bang Jhon who happened to have to go home too. On the way home, Bang Jhon offered us to eat and the four of us were treated at Kubang restaurant. We talked about many things there before we realized that it was already really late and decided to go home.

The original plan was Mawar and Melati would spend the night at Yudi’s room, but it was cancelled. Finally I told them to sleep at the rented room of my ex-girlfriend, who I’d dated when I’d just entered the college. They were forced to sleep there which wasn’t far from Bang Jhon’s house. When we arrived there, I introduced Mawar to my ex-girlfriend. After they entered the room, we parted and I went home.

After we arrived at our place, there was still another bad luck. Apparently the room key was accidentally taken by Fandi. We then called Fandi who was in Bukittingi with his friend. We were forced to wait outside the room until Fandi came. After one hour waiting, finally Fandi came. We then took a rest immediately because we were too tired.

The next day we woke up late. We should’ve been at Civil Service Police Force’s office at 8 AM, but we just left at 9 AM. We immediately picked Mawar and Melati up and went to that office. Once we arrived there, we instantly looked for Bang Jhon. When I arrived at the office’s door, an officer held me back, while he let the others through. I was surprised for a moment and then I realized that I wore short pants. I forgot that it was Friday and I had to go to this office again. He told me to go home to change my clothes. After I changed my clothes, I came back to the office and the officer let me through the door. When asked by an officer, apparently he had ever lived in Bogor and had become a football player there. The four of us were called to enter a room and make a letter of agreement. Written on the letter was:

If I, Chandra Zefry Airlangga, do another violation in six months, then I will be subjected to sanction.

Then I signed that letter. While giving me lecture so that I didn’t repeat that mistake, Bang Jhon said that if I repeated it again then he couldn’t help me again. Finally we went home.

Before we went, Bang Jhon instructed us, “It would be better for you if you go home to Padang immediately.”

We answered simultaneously, “Alright, Bang, we will go home right after Friday prayer. Thank you for helping us.”

“It’s okay, once again, don’t repeat the last night incident, especially for Angga. If you repeat it again, I would marry you off!”

“Yes, Bang!” Then the four of us went home to our place and got ready to go to Padang.

However, apparently Yudi still wanted to hang out with Melati and they decided to go to Bukittinggi. They might still be depressed because of the incident last night, being interrogated by the Civil Service Police Force. They came home after Isha adhan. I had waited at Yudi’s room before we went home to Padang, because we had been afraid Bang Jhon would know that we actually just left.