Raising the profile - Taxi Drivers Redemption

Jakarta is famous for it's first impression as you step into the kretek laden air outside the airport - Taxi touts and vehicles which are perhaps the most un-roadworthy in South East Asia.

Choose a name, Diamond, Kosti Jaya, Prestasi, (the list is endless) but they are all much of a same same when it comes to fleecing people. Mistaking your intended destination for another similar sounding street at the opposite side of town, meter fiddling (if there is a functioning meter), stoping to pick up a "friend" (read potential assailant and robber) or just plain stupid with driving skills like a contestant in the Cannonball Run, they are reknowned for their tricks and general sleekitness. 

I was therefore pleasantly surprised to read this in the Jakarta Globe, an act of kindness and human dignity that changed my overall view on these guys!

A Jakarta taxi company on Tuesday began offering a year’s worth of free rides to underprivileged children with cancer to and from their group home to the hospital.

Express Group Taxis is working with the Indonesian Care for Cancer Kids Foundation, or YKAKI, to provide free-ride coupons to children with cancer who live at the Rumah Kita shelter to the Cipto Mangunkusumo, Saint Carolus or Dharmais hospitals.

“Most children in Rumah Kita come from outside Jakarta and are financially disadvantaged,” said Pinta Manullang, co-founder of YKAKI and Rumah Kita.

She said many of the patients came to Jakarta to seek better medical treatment. Most of these families struggled with the higher cost of living in the capital, she said.

Royanti — a 31-year-old from Riau Islands Province who has lived with her 9-year-old daughter, Yulia Pratami, in Jakarta since 2006 — said that life in the capital was difficult. Yulia suffers from ovarian cancer.

“Free taxis sound simple, but they will help people like me,” she said. Royanti only pays Rp 5,000 (42 cents) a day for accommodation and meals for her and Yulia.

Pinta, who lost a son to cancer, said treatment was not the only critical factor in a child’s healing process. “They need to know people still care,” she said.

For now, the program is only available for children from Rumah Kita. They can use the service for the next year whenever they need to go to the hospital. Each child will receive two taxi coupons a day.

Someone recently mentioned to me that there is genuine kindness out there, but, unfortunately the press chooses only to print what they consider as "saleable commodity stories from Jakarta's dark underbelly" 

After reading that story, I think I am beginning so see things a little more clearly these days! Not everything is as dark as it is painted.