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“I heard the second one go off”: post from Jakarta

17 Jul 01:55pm

Filed under: Indonesia, Jakarta Bombings, Ji, Terrorism

Australian travel journalist Natasha Dragun lives down the road from the Ritz and Marriot hotels in Jakarta. She filed this post for The Punch on the bombings today.

I’ve lived in Jakarta for about 15 months (I moved here having spent 5 years in Beijing, and now work for a travel magazine based in Jakarta). I’ve always felt extremely safe here.

Bomb damage at the Ritz hotel in Jakarta photo from Dregar/Twitpic

In fact, I’ve felt safer here than when I lived in Melbourne. Everyone here is always so friendly and lovely.

I’ve never been scared for my safety – even during the elections, or the executions of the Bali bombers… my family and friends were more worried than I was.

The security at both hotels (the Marriott and Ritz) is extremely tight, so I just don’t understand how the bombs got in.

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Amanda says:

09:53pm | 19/07/09

Thanks for your story Natasha. I too am a woman and have lived and worked in Jakarta for 10 years and have never felt any less safe here on a daily basis than I did in Australia. I have many Indonesian friends who were some of the first people to… Read more »
Yanjune says:

02:10am | 19/07/09

Thanks for your story Natasha. Indeed, it is not about a country or the people or a particular religion. It is simply a terrorist matter and could happen in anywhere. Unfortunately it happened in Jakarta, Indonesia. Read more »