Magical Mystery Tour

Mr. Amat Got a Ticket

17 Aug 2010 1 Comment

by Miftahudin in Uncategorized Tags: police, speeding tickrt

It was still  10 a.m. when the Si Amat was getting ready to leave work. For the day  he did not have anything else to do. He had completed his task. Soon he headed for the parking lot to pick his favorite vehicle up. Yes, that day he was riding his motorcycle. At first he wanted to drive his car of  dream but because he wanted to save time too,  he rode his anti-jam vehicle instead. Besides, his car will be used by his maid for shopping to the traditional market in the afternoon.

Oh yes. Before I proceed the story, I’ll tell a little bit about Si Amat . As we understandd Si Amat is like a celebrity. From cingur-smelled children (read: anak bau kencur) to old people of seven types of fragrance  (read: bau tujuh rupa) know about Si Amat, although they may not realize or be not aware of it.  How come? Come!

Don’t be surprised if you are also familiar with him! Or at least you often mention his name. Maybe every-day.

Yes, that’s the fate of the Amat. He’s famous but does not benefit from his fame. Unlike Shinta and Jojo, for example, who in all of sudden became celebrities just because of the poisonous snail (read: keong racun).

Take a look at the following expressions: “bagus amat gambarnya”,  “kok begitu amat, sih, ceritanya”, “nggak, dia nggak bagus bagus amat”, “ sepi amat sih. Where is everybody?”

That’s right. Unavoidably I use Bahasa Indonesia a lot in above paragraph because if  I insist translating the expressions, I can mislead you, readers. By the way, is there anyone reading it?

Don’t the above expressions indicate that he’s very widely known or at least many people say his name. There are hundreds, thousands, or maybe  millions of expressions that include the name Si Amat. Do you agree that he’s very famous person? No? Well, it’s up to you. It  is actually not very important anyway.

Although you might not agree, I still give an appreciation to Si Amat’s  fame by no longer attaching the label “Si” in front of his name. Now I’ll call him Mr. Amat.

Back again to the original story about the Si, uh, Mr. Amat. After a bit of trouble starting his two wheel vehicle,  he was finally successful. The he shouted, “I did it.  I did it. I did it.” Oh, yes. I forgot to inform you that Mr. Amat  is also a crazy fan of Dora.  Without waiting any longer he drove toward home.

At the intersection of which is He often passed by, he took a wrong turn and entered the traffic from the opposite direction. When he was speeding on his motorcycle, came another rider from the opposite direction, tossing his hands like what is usually done by a soccer referee when a player is off-side.

At first he did not even understand what this person was doing. He even thought that the man didn’t have better things to do, or he was having hand cramps. But then his brilliant brain sent a signal that something was wrong. As quick as a flash he realized that the road applied one-way traffic  there till eleven o’clock. He usually passed that way in the afternoon.

Obviously reflected in the data base of his head that approximately 300 meters in front of his there is a police post, and five to six police are often seen doing their noble job. Bad news. It could be the danger ahead. He thought his pocket could depleted. Or he had to deal with judges and prosecutors for a traffic violation.

Not far ahead there was a State owned housing complex then he turned left to find a way of rats (read: jalan tikus). It should be understood, in this area many rats have built roads and streets that are often used by humans. Fortunately, the rat was never angry with humans using their streets.

After going round and round he at last  got to the right path. His heart started to be stable. Now he was away from the danger. After a few minutes, he saw two police motorcycles, moving slowly side by side affectionately. Mr. Amat smiled as if she had won a lottery of huge amount of money. He even feel more safe knowing that he was close to the protectors of community.

Because the two police motorcycles were running quite slowly, Mr. Amat could easily exceeded them, and he was leading. Now He focused on the traffic ahead.

When Mr. Amat was running his motorcycle  fast, you can actually understand how fast the hell a cheap duck motorcycle (read: motor bebek) can run, suddenly, right there on the left side of his vehicle ran a police motorcycle, and the rider waved his hand asking him to pull over. Obviously it was not because of the hand cramps.

He felt he’d done nothing wrong and when his motorcycle had already stopped, he asked, “What is it, sir?”

“Good morning, sir!”, He greeted him without answering Mr.Amat question.

“Can I see the vehicle registration paper and your driver’s license?”,  He  later observed the documents after Mr. Amat handed them.

“You are going to  work?”, He asked Mr. Amat a standard questions. Mr. Amat  responded as necessary.

“You didn’t turn on the lights, didn’t you? Answer honestly! “, Now he’s asking question in interrogation style and cornering way.

Mr. Amat observed his vehicle He was not very sure whether or not he had turned the lamp on. He’s also the type of  forgetful person and  turns on the lights not too often. Besides, it had never been a problem when he didn’t , even when he ran into a police.

“No, sir”, replied Mr. Amat quite honestly, without trying to seek for excuses.

“You now know that you have done a violation?”,  said the Police, whose mustache was similar to Inul’s husband’s, in triumph. Later he lectured on the rules that oblige riders to turn on the lights during the day and bla bla bla and bla bla bla..

Then he opened a book containing the rules and regulations and appointed to the rule  focusing more  on how much fine he should  pay if it is to trial. It says the amount of Rp 100,000. Mr Amat was not too concerned whether it was a minimum or maximum amount, but it was pretty much money for him.

“So, sir? Do you understand?

“Yes, sir”, Mr. Amat admitted his guilt like a gentleman.

He went on, “is there any possibility that I don’t have to go to the trial, sir?” Mr. Amat was trying to play with fire.

“How much have you got?”, Mr. Policeman bit Mr.  Amat’s bait, and the real game just started.

“Rp 20,000″, replied Mr. Amat. His head still remember clearly that there is money of Rp. 40 000 in the pockets, the change at the filling stations. He had been thinking of saying Rp 10,000, but Mr. Amat was afraid that the amount could make the police felt disrespected.  The money was just enough for a bowl of meatballs.

“The penalty could be Rp 100 000, and I also got percentage from the fine. do you have half of the fine?”, He struggled for a higher and respectable amount .

“How about Rp 30,000″ said Mr. Amat without thinking very long.

“You don’t have half? Mr. Policeman was still persistent to struggle.

“No, sir.”

“Then I’ll write a ticket”, then he mentioned the day, date and hour for the trial.

“OK. Write me a ticket, sir!”, Said Mr. Amat without any challenging tone.

Then the society protector began to write something in the ticket, but after just write one word or two, he paused and tried to ask some friendly questions about where he lived and so on and so on.
Then he re-asked the previous question, “So you don’t have half?”. He sipped back his own spit (read: menelan ludah sendiri).

“No, as I said earlier, sir”,  said Mr. Amat and he was thinking  again about avoiding the possible long and tiring trial.

“OK, then.Follow me and get ready with the money. “Replied Mr. Policeman as he got on his motorcycle and faded away.

Mr. Amat was stunned, and he smiled without being able to interpret what  his smile meant. Before his forgetful problem twisted, he immediately got on his motorcycle and tailed the police.

After roughly three hundred yards the police stopped at a “strategic place”. Not far from where he stopped his colleagues are doing the same duties, ticketing riders.

But Mr. Amat didn’t pay  very much attention to what his colleagues were doing.

After stopping Mr. Amat approached the police with three ten thousands of bills in his hand. After he was close enough, the police officer gave the command, “put it here”, as he opened the tin box like a charity box (read: kotak amal) in the mosque at the back of his motorcycle without looking at the box.

After the money was in the box, he asked, “How much was it?”

“Rp. 30.000”, replied Mr. Amat.

Next, the police officer, with a high awareness, gave back Mr. Amat documents saying that Mr. Amat should obey the rules next time. Mr. Amat hoped that he wouldn’t see him again when violating traffic regulations.

Win-win solution was reached, meaning that the police won and would win again. Simple Mr.Amat could just bit his own finger and only stopped after his finger was hurt because he bit it too hard.

Very poor Mr. amat!(read: Kasian Amat!)

Note: the story of Indonesian version at http://isikepala-miftah.blogspot.com/