Postal woes

One would think that being a developing country (as economists describe it), the Indonesian postal system may be unreliable (i.e. mail/packages lost or opened).

That was my impression of the country's postal system when I first sent mail from Singapore to the S.O. in Bali, some time in early 2006 before I moved here to be with him. The S.O. also had the same impression then, when he had to send packages to me.

We were both proven wrong when all times, our mail and packages arrived between four to seven days of posting. Still intact, still sealed. Further, these mails were sent via normal post, not registered mail.

Just today, a registered package from my mother in Singapore arrived, still sealed and unopened, eight days after she sent it. The postman even checked with our maid that yours truly really did reside at the address written on the package.

So we know that in Bali, the standard and service of the postal system is on par with the Singapore postal service.

In stark contrast, we cannot say the same about the Italian postal service. According to the S.O., mail and packages sent from places within Italy sometimes do not arrive at their destination. If they do arrive, they could be damaged or even have missing items.

This was demonstrated very well when we shipped two boxes of personal items from Italy to Bali. The boxes were made of thick cardboard, similar to those used by DHL for their deliveries. Both boxes were sealed by the S.O. with loads of tape before we handed them over to the Italian postal service, about three days before our departure from Italy.

Three weeks later, when we arrived at the area post office branch in Bali to collect both boxes, they here handed to us in transparent, sealed plastic bags. On closer inspection, we noticed that one box had been a slit on the left side of the lid while the other just seemed particularly battered.

According to the postal worker, the boxes arrived in Indonesia in that condition, and were passed on to Bali as is for delivery to the recipient. On reaching home, we found items missing from the box that was slit.

You can imagine the fury that the S.O. felt then toward the Italian postal service and its workers.

Adding further insult is the fact that a registered package that we sent to my mother-in-law from Singapore did not arrive at her home in Italy. Sealed and sent on October 5, the whereabouts of the box remains a mystery more than one month later.

The box contained 12 bottles of Tiger Balm ointment, a major pain reliever for my 75-year-old mother-in-law who suffers from frequent muscle aches, and which was declared in the forms for registered mail.

However, we figured that the heavy weight of the box might have aroused curiosity among the Italian postal workers, who then opened it in the hopes of finding something of material value that could be kept for their own use or resold for cash.

We can only guess about the fate of the 12 bottles, for Tiger Balm is not a common item found in Italian shops. We can only surmise that it has been discarded for its 'worthlessness' instead of being delivered, sans its packaging.

Why does Italy - a country in the European Union, a country that is considered developed - have such an unreliable postal system?

Why do the postal workers steal even from their fellow countrymen (packages sent within the country)?

Are they paid so little or are working conditions so terrible that they have to resort to petty crime?

This is not behaviour that anyone would expect from the postal system and workers of a developed country.

If even the Indonesian postal system can deliver standards expected from a developed country, why can Italy not do the same?

A developed country with an untrustworthy postal system hints of many ills in its political system. Even all the natural beauty of Italy cannot make up for its internal problems.

That is why its citizens who can leave the country do so, and people from other countries who refuse to live with such failings refuse to stay long there.