09 April 2011

By the way ...: More dynamic dance needed to make police sober up

A low-ranking policeman from Gorontalo in northern Sulawesi was suddenly the talk of the country after he was reprimanded for dancing and lip-syncing to a Bollywood hit.

A video featuring Norman dancing and lip-syncing to Chaiyya-Chaiyya by Indian film star Shahrukh Khan is available on YouTube under the title “Gorontalo Police Goes Crazy”.

I am not a big fan of Bollywood movies and songs, but I was really curious. How did he dance? Was he as hot as Shahrukh Khan?

I imagined that Norman must have dynamic movements, jumping from his seat, rocking, bouncing, running here and there while swaying his body sexily.

There must also be a scene of him dancing around a pillar, as is often the case in Indian films on TV. Maybe he also had the first three buttons of his uniform undone.

Watching the six minutes and 30 seconds of video, I was disappointed. The police officer moved his upper body to the right and left and lifted his arms up and down, but he did not even get up from his seat let alone move around. He did look absorbed in the song, as reflected in his expression. And… yes, you are right, none of the buttons on his uniform were left undone.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Anton Bachrul Alam said Norman had breached the code of ethics as he was wearing a police uniform and was on duty. On the following day, however, he corrected his statement, saying that Norman was not on duty when he did it.

As “punishment”, Norman was told to do his song and dance in front of 200 colleagues at police headquarters.

Many people supported Norman, as they found what he did entertaining and quite human. Some compared him to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who has even recorded his own songs. Others said the police should focus on punishing high-ranking police officers involved in corruption and the judicial mafia.

Police indeed have a lot of homework to do, including the case of the so-called “fat bank accounts”. The case involves large bank balances allegedly held by mid- and high-ranking police officers, a scandal that was first reported by Tempo news magazine in June 2010.

In a recent case of alleged embezzlement by Citibank officer Malinda Dee, National Police Internal Affairs Division chief Insp. Gen. Budi Gunawan reportedly said he was one of her victims.

Interestingly, Budi was one of the officers with an allegedly suspicious “fat account”. It was reported last year that he had Rp 95 billion (US$10.9 million) in two bank accounts.

Budi told tempointeraktif.com on Tuesday that “some, but not a lot” of his money was stolen by Malinda.

On the following day, no less than National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo denied that Budi was one of Malinda’s victims.

Meanwhile, the police account scandal remains a huge mystery with the police refusing to disclose the suspicious accounts. The police are even dragging their feet in dealing with related cases, particularly the attack on the Tempo offices and the assault of an Indonesia Corruption Watch activist who reported several senior police officers to the Corruption Eradication Commission for their suspicious accounts.

The President has urged the police to handle the assault case seriously, but the culprits remain
at large.

And, what about the recent book bombings that occurred on several consecutive days after two Australian newspapers reported the President’s alleged abuse of power? The perpetrators managed to attract public attention and those cases immediately made headlines in the media all over the country. After a while, however, people forgot about those cases while the police investigation seems futile.

Police investigators deserve sanctions for their failure to carry out their duty well. It is clear that they and those suspicious account holders — not Norman — have aggravated the police’s bad image. Maybe Norman should dance even more vigorously to help them sober up.

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