That was a hot, sunny day in Balikpapan. The road, I notice, was getting more crowded than 4 years earlier when I left the city. Everyone seemed to have a motorcycle or a car, ranging from an old, rattling pick-up to a shiny, brand new Daihatsu. I was in a minibus, ready for my first day at work. In the minibus, I notice, was a tiny dustbin strapped behind the passanger’s door. I was slightly intrigued with this, because dustbins are not the things tipically found in Balikpapan’s minibuses.
“Every minibus now must have a dustbin”, the driver said. “If not, we will have to pay the fee.”
“The rule is only for the minibus ?” I asked.
“No, it is for private cars, too.”
Good, so this is a real progress then, I thought. About two seconds after that, I saw the driver threw out an ice-tea plastic through his window.
Several minutes later, a passanger in a fancy blue Toyota in front threw out a plastic bag contain leftovers of fried bananas.
A little girl in school uniform at the back of passing motorcycle threw an ice cream wrapper onto the road.
At right, a man in government-office uniform passing by with cigarette in his left hand (attention : he was riding a motorcycle, not a car). Something small but hot suddenly prick my eye. I didn’t want to judge, but I highly suspected it was an ember from the man’s cigarette.
Halfway to my work-place, I already lost count about how many people did …that. I looked at the road, to people who still threw rubbishes non-chalantly outside their dustbins-equipped vehicles, then I looked back at the tiny dustbin behind the door. Suddenly, I can’t hold the urge to laugh my head’s off.
“Every minibus now must have a dustbin”, the driver said. “If not, we will have to pay the fee.”
“The rule is only for the minibus ?” I asked.
“No, it is for private cars, too.”
Good, so this is a real progress then, I thought. About two seconds after that, I saw the driver threw out an ice-tea plastic through his window.
Several minutes later, a passanger in a fancy blue Toyota in front threw out a plastic bag contain leftovers of fried bananas.
A little girl in school uniform at the back of passing motorcycle threw an ice cream wrapper onto the road.
At right, a man in government-office uniform passing by with cigarette in his left hand (attention : he was riding a motorcycle, not a car). Something small but hot suddenly prick my eye. I didn’t want to judge, but I highly suspected it was an ember from the man’s cigarette.
Halfway to my work-place, I already lost count about how many people did …that. I looked at the road, to people who still threw rubbishes non-chalantly outside their dustbins-equipped vehicles, then I looked back at the tiny dustbin behind the door. Suddenly, I can’t hold the urge to laugh my head’s off.
