Empathy Crisis And Still Lack Of Facilities For Jakarta Train Passengers (Part 2)

 Note: This article is part #2. If you have not read the first article, please click HERE

Empathy crisis and still lack of facilities for Jakarta train passengers.

Especially in carriages for women. Their competition for seats is far more 'sadistic' and crazy! The female passengers in there (usually) are more reluctant to empathize with other women.

So that seat is not requested (by other women), the trick they often do is pretend to be sleeping (while covering his face with a newspaper), or pretending to be busy with a gadget in his hand.

It is not surprising that eventually many of the pregnant women prefer to go up to the regular train carriage room (for men and women). They assume that the men who sit on the common train carriage will be more willing to budge for him, than the passengers in the carriage specifically for women.

The severity of the competition to get the seat in the women's carriage was once expressed by a woman named Elvi in a national media Indonesia. This Elvi is a young mother about 25 years old.

She said:

"If only three stations were to be traveled, then I would not ask for a seat. But if the distance is far away, I get dizzy and nauseous when I'm standing. I often feel not strong if I stand too long.

Elvi said that she often gets inappropriate responses from other passengers. She usually does not get his rights (as a pregnant woman) and must ask in advance to be able to get priority seats. She once had to argue with a woman. The trigger is because the security officer asked the woman's husband to stand up, and gave his seat to Elvi.

The incident began when she left for work at 10 o'clock in the morning. She climbed from the Pancasila University station to Cikini station. Both locations passed nine stations; of course, it was a considerable distance for Elvi to stand up.

At first, Elvi tried to survive to remain standing. The female carriage wagon that morning was crowded, making her feel sick, even though the new train was running past two stations.

Elvi then tries to find a priority seat. But everything has been fulfilled by young women. There are also no other benches that are empty. Reluctant to make problems personally with other women (based on previous experience), Elvi has a surefire way to outsmart it. Namely asking for help the officer to find a seat. Elvi said that she was pregnant and could no longer stand up.

The security officer finally took Elvi to another carriage, a regular carriage. She is given an ordinary seat, not a priority bench. In fact, since the beginning, Elvi deliberately did not enter the regular carriage, because she often felt sick to smell the unpleasant smell (sweat/armpit) that was there. But because she was in a forced state, Elvi finally accepts it.

Incidentally, in one row of regular seats, there was a middle-aged man (who according to the officers was still firm to stand). The clerk then asked for the man's position, and the person was finally willing to stand up. Evi immediately sat down and thanked the officer and the man.

Well, the man had given up his seat, but not with a woman who was beside him. It turned out that Elvi had to accept the satire from the woman next to him. The woman was none other than his wife the man.

"His wife focused on looking at my stomach and wanted to make sure I was pregnant. With a cynical tone, the woman then said: 'Why should my husband stand up? "On the other side of the bench there are still young people," Elvi said mimicking the woman's words.

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A question arises:

What are the factors that make the train passengers very reluctant to share their seats with other passengers?

In my view (the writer) who has been a Commuter Line train user in Jakarta for a long time, there are two main factors.

That is :

#1. Because factor is still the lack of facilities for priority passengers on the Jakarta Commuter Line train.

#2. Because of the individualistic nature that begins to 'infect' some people in big cities like Jakarta.

Now let us first examine the causes of the first.

#1. Because there is still a lack of facilities provided by the Commuter Line train for priority seats/ passengers.

With the very cheap train ticket, which is only 2,000 rupiah per the first 25 kilometers, and 1,000 rupiahs for the next 10 kilometers (a total of about 22 cents the US $), it's making this transportation a favorite and very popular with the community. However, it is like a proverb "there is a price, there are goods." The Commuter Line is still not able to serve the needs of its users to the maximum. Indeed there have been several steps to improve the convenience of users, such as train cars equipped with air conditioners, fans and various other improvements.

Now the environment in all train stations is also cleaner and neater compared to a few years ago. In the past, (about five years ago) street vendors traded and lined up at each station. Even the hawkers also crowded to sell up to the economy train cars. (note: the train with the cheapest ticket price). Now all that is has gone. The Commuter Line train environment is now far more orderly, clean and neatly organized. And this is indeed worth our appreciation.

But there is one main problem that until now has not been fulfilled. Namely, the number of train carriage that is not directly proportional to the number of passengers. This certainly has an impact on the number of priority seats that become less, compared to the priority number of passengers on the Commuter line train (which every time continues to increase).

Incidents pushed each other up when going up and when they wanted to get off the train became a daily sight. The number of Commuter line train users continues to increase, making all passengers scramble to get seats. Old, young, grandfather, grandmother, pregnant, single, male or female, everyone struggled to get a place.

Especially in times when people leave for work in the morning, or after work in the afternoon. Wow!

If it's like that, the condition, then there is almost no term of choice here.

The laws that apply are:

Who is the fastest, then he will get the seat?

If the situation is like this, who will be the victim?

The answer is obvious: Old people, people with disabilities, and pregnant women!

These pregnant women often have to be willing to walk from one carriage to another to find a seat that is still empty. And worse, because of the limited number of priority seats, finally the pregnant women forced themselves to stand up (because they were reluctant to have problems with other passengers). Not infrequently there are finally among those who fainted because they forced themselves to stand up. (Because she did not get a seat on the Commuter Line train).

So, in my opinion, this should be a particular concern for related parties. So that they immediately add the number of train carriages. To be able to accommodate the number of users of electric trains which are increasingly increasing every day.

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#2. Because of the individualistic nature that began to 'infect' some citizens in big cities.

The individualistic nature begins to 'infect' some urban communities. Individualism is one of the factors that makes them lose their sense of togetherness and empathy for others.

A question might arise in your mind: "Why does the nature of individualism tend to infect people in urban areas?"

You can see the answer from the phenomenon that exists in Indonesia (if you have ever visited my country). Try to note, the higher the standard of living and the more advanced their socio-economic welfare, then the higher the walls and fences of their houses. Because the fenced house is so high, so they often don't know their neighbors.

They are only busy with their respective affairs. Rarely socialize with residents around his house. Over time this situation makes their sense of togetherness fade and disappear. In the end, it is this individualism that shapes their character and continues to carried away wherever they go.

Therefore, when there are still social rules that apply in the train cars, it makes their individualism disturbed.

Especially if what is asked for is a regular bench. And the regular bench is not part of the priority seat. But sometimes the officer has to forced to ask for their positions. Because of the limited supply of priority benches. This is what makes the side of their individualism feel disturbed.

Because they consider the regular chair is their right. They often argue and grumble: "if indeed for people who are pregnant, they should sit on the priority bench!".

In fact, what is the disadvantage of giving a seat to someone else? After all, their positions were not asked every day. Why also they do not try to change the way they think, that every good will surely be rewarded. Namely in the world humans will like it, and in the Hereafter will get a reply from God.

So, doing good will not make a loss; it will bring goodness to them.

However, we are quite concerned because the individualism began to 'undermine and kill' the conscience of some people in urban areas.

Even if they want to share, actually it will bring happiness to the soul (if they're going to reflect on it). By sharing, their souls will not be arid and lonely.

Because sharing sincerely can soften the heart, reassure the soul and strengthen the brotherhood.

We are sure; there are still many people in the big cities who still have a conscience and want to share with others. And for some (who are still trapped with individualism), hopefully, their awareness will soon arise.

Thus the article about the fading of empathy and the lack of facilities for priority passengers on the Commuter line train.

Hopefully, we can all be better people and benefit others.

See you again in the next article.