2026年7月4日、「街灯整備費」を名乗る2人組、村役場の印鑑持参で集金July 4, 2026 — Two Men Collect a 'Streetlight Fee,' Complete With an Official Village Stamp

In Bandar Klippa village, Percut Sei Tuan subdistrict, Deli Serdang Regency, North Sumatra, Indonesia, two men visited a clothing and bag shop around 3 p.m. on July 4, claiming to represent the village government and requesting a contribution toward street-lamp repairs and roadside shoulder work. Their proposal document carried the stamp of a local RT (neighborhood unit) chief.

The shop's owner, identified as SS, 34, said she had run the business there for 12 years and had never faced a demand like this before. "They claimed to be village officials," she said, noting that past collections, like ones for Independence Day, had always been voluntary. Annoyed but wanting them gone quickly, she handed over 50,000 rupiah — about $3.

SS filmed the encounter and posted it online, where it quickly went viral. By the evening of July 5, the two men and the village's deputy head came to her shop to apologize, admitting the collection had been unauthorized and promising it would not happen again.