National Sport Stadium and AFF Cup 2010

On December 29, 2010, Gelora Bung Karno, the main Sports Stadium located in Senayan, Jakarta, was full of enthusiastic spectators watching the grand final of Asean  Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup.  The match was very decisive for Indonesia as their favorite team was soundly defeated by Malaysia in the first leg which was held in Kuala Lumpur three days earlier. 

At that night the sports stadium bearing the nickname of Soekarno, the then president who initiated to build the area, looked grandiose and impressive. It was flooded by the football spectators and all of its 90,000 seats were full dominated by red costumes yelling to support the Indonesia soccer team. The sports stadium was built in the middle of Senayan sports center measured by  137 hectares. In the new order era (1966 – 1998), when de-Soekarnoism was very intense the name was temporarily changed into Stadion Utama Senayan.

The construction of the sports center and other burdening prestigious projects which were started in the early 1960s put a lot of additional burden to the Indonesian economy which was already worsened. 


Soekarno as the first president and also the founding father of Indonesia believed that as a young nation, Indonesia should give priority to the nation and character building as the precondition to becoming a great nation. 

Albeit the weakness of Indonesia economy,  he decided to build a Grand National Sports Center and declared that Indonesia was ready to host the Asian Games by 1962. Many member countries such as Japan and China were skeptical as Indonesia at those days didn’t have any good infrastructure yet.

Many criticisms accusing the project as a megalomaniac one wasting money which was needed badly for more urgent development of public welfare.  Even Khrushchev, the then  Soviet Union Prime Minister, was more pragmatic and kindly reminded Soekarno to prioritize the welfare of his people. However, Soekarno had a strong determination to continue the construction. The project was funded by a soft loan from the Soviet Union amounting to US$12.5 million. Although facing many obstacles, the project was finally completed on schedule.  

Now, fifty years later, on the night of December 29th, the sense of nationalism of the Indonesians spectators tremendously surged. Indonesia has never had a strong national soccer team. Since the AFF Cup establishment in the 1990s, Indonesia has been able to reach the final for 3 times, but so far never won any of them. Strengthened by two naturalized foreign players who have a close attachment to Indonesia, and under the coach Alfred Riedl who imposes a very rigorous discipline, for the first time, Indonesia has a better football team which they are proud of.

Indonesia team had successfully stepped into the final, but in the first leg of the final match held in Kuala Lumpur three days earlier Indonesia was beaten by Malaysian team by three goals. 


The Indonesia team performance seemed very poor at that match but the matter became worse as during the match, the Indonesian goal keeper was bombarded by green lasers disabling him to concentrate. 

Following the incident, Indonesia sent an official complaint to Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It is hoped that the AFC would not simply ignore the Bukit Jalil sport stadium's laser incident which directly disturbed  the guest players.   

Now in the second leg, Indonesian team won the match at score of 2 - 1 and should be happy to become as the runner up of the 2010 AFF Cup. It was unimportant whoever the champion was as far as it was a fair play. More importantly the Indonesian supporters and may be the whole  nation were united and forgot for a while their internal political quarrels. The sport has been proved to be  the vehicle for strengthening the nation and character building.

Jakarta Food Stalls and City Tax

The bag-pack visitors staying in Jakarta can live with less than US$ 15 (Rp 9,000 per US$) per day if they are willing to lodge in the modest inns similar to those at Jalan Jaksa, a foreigners’ favorite small street just around one mile south of National Monument, and dine at the food stalls scattering in Jakarta.

The food stalls are coined “warung Tegal” (Warteg) as most of the stalls are managed by talented people from Tegal (north coast of Central Java) for such small sidewalk gastronomic businesses that provide meals at affordable prices (less than US$ 2). The name has become generic as it is applicable to all similar food stalls of different tastes and menus regardless of the origin of the owners.

Most of the staple diets are generally simple composing of a piece of meat, soya bean cakes (tahu and tempe), vegetables, and of course a plate of rice. Fried rice and instant noodles almost always can be found, some serve kinds of dry foods, such as satay and curries. They serve snacks as well as fried bananas and typical drinks of Tegal clay pot tea. As for the customers, they should be selective and careful to observe the hygiene and cleanliness of the food stall.

Warteg is usually operated in rotations among family members every 3 to 4 months. Most of them usually do farming in their hometown while waiting for their turns. Today there are around 27,000 food stalls with the daily gross-income of a minimum of around Rp 400 thousand to survive. Most of the owners just rent small rooms or take an open space along the sidewalks. The food stall owners are usually incorporated in a Warteg Cooperative.

Some prospective Warteg owners obtain quite large income, which is apparent from their luxury homes built in their home town. It was the reason why the city government planned to tax them up for those who have the annual income minimum of Rp 60 million which has got the Jakarta House members’ endorsement.

The 10% food stall tax would certainly increase the food price which affects a lot of low-wage workers who frequently dine at the warteg. Another reason was that the food stall business is an informal one so no financial book-keeping is available and the buyers just pay in cash without getting a receipt of payment.

One of the observers on the public policy said that what the city government should do is intensifying the restaurant tax which has the potential to increase by hundreds billion rupiahs and aiding instead the small food stalls for their financial shortcomings (under the responsibility of Cooperative and Small & Medium Scale Business Ministry). 

The good news came at last as the governor agreed to postpone the bill signing upon the request of the Association of Tegal Community in Jakarta  because of the potential problems which might arise from such policy, bearing in mind that the food stall owners still have the obligation to pay the income tax whether in Jakarta or in their home town. 

Herbal Medicinal Drinks and Patent

Jakarta as the state capital and metropolitan city with 9 million inhabitants (12 million during the day) represents a big market for consumer goods. The growing market in Jakarta is reflected by continuous constructions of modern malls, besides those of smaller shops and traditional markets.  

Such a growth certainly attracts many informal traders from outside Jakarta. Among those, there is a unique traditional sale which is of our interest here i.e. herbal medicinal drink.  If you walk along the roads mainly in the outskirt of Jakarta, sometime you may see a woman with traditional Javanese costumes carrying a basket containing bottles of various herbal drinks in her back. The saleswomen are usually quite good looking selected on purpose to attract the customers. It is similar to the sale of areca nuts in Taipei, where you can meet beautiful girls wearing mini-skirts selling the nuts displayed along the road to attract the car drivers to stop by.

This mode of traditional herbal sale is common in most cities, especially those in Java. The herbal medicinal drinks that the women carry composes of various mixtures of ginger, cardamom, turmeric, galingale, and their kinds, and noni fruit.   

Traditional herbal drinks are very long time popular to many, but not limited to, Javanese people.  Anybody can get such drinks easily because they are marketed daily from door to door, thanks to the saleswomen,  mostly from Central Java, who cover the need of their customers.

Usually, they have created good communications with their customers so there is practically no problem with the product sales. Despite the medical development and productions of new medicines, daily consumption of those products is still high especially among middle-class families and below. 

Many people believe that consuming herbal drinks might improve their health condition and cure various diseases. Miss Indonesia Qori Sandrioriva from Aceh said that she was accustomed to herbal medicines and used them to improve her beauty as well as cure the diseases such a cold and headache. Some customers from both sexes fanatically consume herbal drinks, as they believe that their sexual performance can be much better after a certain period of herbal consumption.

Either directly or indirectly, the business of herbal drinks helps to reduce unemployment. Those include any related activities such as farmers who cultivate medicinal plants; the breeders of bees and local hens producing honey and eggs; lest to forget, women who market the drinks from door to in various cities in Java. 

These herbal medicines started to be produced in large scales in the early 1960s. Some of those now become big pharmaceutical companies which modernize their herbal process and export some of their products. The products can be consumed instantly in the form of capsules or sachets which contents are consumed by putting in a glass of hot water. This obviously competes and in some degree threatens the traditional home-made herbal medicines and their saleswomen. 

Patented in Foreign Countries

The drinks are the Indonesian product for centuries. However, there is no special documented recipe being used in producing them uniformly. Each producer has its own recipe handed down from generation to generation. This unfortunate situation makes traditional herbal medicine home-made become vulnerable as they are not protected by patent or property rights.  People think that there is no need to patent traditional and Indonesian original products. 

Therefore, people were amazed, when just recently certain products made of cardamon (Curcuma xanthorrhiza) was patented in America. It was not clear what the patent for, whether it deals with certain extraction process or wider scope. The question is, from then on, should people in Indonesia have to get permission when they produce traditional herbal medicines which have been patented by some other countries? 

Last year, President SBY reminded that Indonesia had great potency in herbal business and people in the world dubbed Indonesia the Mega Biodiversity. When he and the first lady visited the R & D Institute of Medicinal Plants of the Health Ministry in Tawangmangu, Central Java, he gave remark that we have a duty to do research for making a breakthrough to find herbal medicines to cure the diseases difficult to treat such as AIDS and cancer.  

Now, as the issue of the herbal medicine patent arises, the government and its institutions such as the R & D Institute of Medicinal Plants, Indonesian Science Institute (LIPI) or other academic institutions should urgently address these grave issues which may hamper the progress of herbal medicine’s development in Indonesia. 

Istiqlal Mosque and Barack Obama

At the northeast of the National Monument (Monas) Square, in the front of Pertamina - the Oil and Gas state company - building, we can see a big edifice stands on the site measuring by 12 hectares, the Istiqlal Mosque.  Istiqlal is the biggest and most splendor mosque in Southeast Asia, the second biggest in the world after the Masjidil Haram Mosque in Mecca.

The mosque can accommodate around 100,000 people inside. The number of prayers can be even bigger especially when Islamic people celebrate religious events such as Idul Fitri and Idul Adha. The world “istiqlal” is taken from Arabic meaning “independence”, for which Islamic people want to show their thankfulness to God the Almighty for the Indonesian independence in 1945.  

The Istiqlal Mosque structure is highly symbolic. The silver dome with the diameter of 45 meters symbolizes the Indonesian independence in 1945; the 12 pillars supporting the great dome, each with the height of 12 meters, stand for the date of 12 Rabiul Awal in the lunar calendar, the birthday of Prophet Mohammad.  The minaret with the height of 66,66 meters symbolizes the total verses of the Koran up to 6,666; another iron minaret with the height of 30 meters stands for the total 30 juz (chapters) of the Koran.

The idea of establishing a splendor mosque in Jakarta came into being when some Islamic scholars (ulemas) in 1953, namely KH Wahid Hasyim, the first Indonesian minister of religious affairs, together with other prominent scholars such as H. Agus Salim, Anwar Tjokroaminoto, and around 200 Islamic figures to establish Istiqlal Mosque Foundation as the vehicle to realize the idea.

The then president, Soekarno, supported the idea and he personally (maybe as the capacity of a civil engineer) became the head of a technical department for the construction of the building and the chairman of the jury for the competition to select the model and design of the mosque.

After a long judging process by studying the architectural design and its meaning based on the ideas of the participants, finally, on July 5, 1955, President Soekarno decided that the design with the title of “Lordship” by Frederich Silaban became the winner for the model of the Istiqlal Mosque.

Obama’s Visit

During his visit to Jakarta, Obama delivered a speech at the University of Indonesia which began with a simple statement uttered in Bahasa Indonesia: “Indonesia adalah bagian dari diri saya (Indonesia is a part of me)”. It was obvious that his life as a child in Jakarta gave a deep impression to him and built up parts of his character. As he grew up, he deeply appreciated the way of life and the basic philosophy adopted by the country where he lived as a little boy.  

His time in Jakarta helped him to appreciate the common humanity of all people around the world. He appreciated this and drew from his experience as a little boy living in Indonesia. He learned from the school that the country is made of thousands of islands, hundreds of languages, and people from scores of regions and ethnic groups.  

More importantly, he learned from his step-father, who like most Indonesians was raised as a Moslem, that all religions were worthy of respect. He understands that his step-father reflected the spirit of religious tolerance that is enshrined in the Indonesian constitution, and that remains one of the country’s defining and inspiring characteristics.

So much were the reasons why he wanted to visit in the first place the Istiqlal Mosque, which was still under construction when he was in Jakarta as a little boy, as the symbolic gesture of his determination to establish religious tolerance. "Religion is fundamental to the Indonesian story. Indonesia is steeped in spirituality, a place where people worship God in many different ways. Such is the Indonesia spirit. Such is the message of Indonesia's inclusive philosophy, Pancasila," Obama said. 

As president, his obsession to establish the inter-religion tolerance in the world was expressed in several of his speeches such as in Cairo and Istanbul, especially on the issues of Palestinians-Israel conflicts. Obama has made as a priority to begin to repair the relationship between the United States and Moslem communities around the world, the beginning that creates a path for both to move beyond the differences.   

As an American, it seemed that Obama has followed closely the situation in Indonesia.  As his speech at the University of Indonesia was coincidentally delivered on November 10th, the National Hero Day of Indonesia, he did not miss to mention the Indonesians struggle for independence. "The message of the Indonesian who have advanced the democratic story, from those who fought in the battle of Surabaya 55 years ago to the students who rallied peacefully for democracy in the 1990s and to leaders who have embraced the peaceful transition of power. It will be the rights of citizens that will stick together the "Nusantara" that stretches from Sabang to Merauke," such as Obama's comprehensive understanding of Indonesian history.  

He further remarked that Indonesia has charted its own course through a democratic transformation from the rule of an iron fist to the rule of the people. He believed that the foundation of Indonesia’s example to the world among other the spirit of tolerance written into the constitution and "Bhineka Tunggal Ika" - unity in diversity - similar to American national motto's: "E Pluribus Unum", will make Indonesia play an important role in the 21st century.

Barack Obama, Welcome Home

Jakarta people are very proud of their then city's little resident who now becomes the most powerful man on the planet. Indonesia and, Jakarta particularly, will welcome Barack Obama, the president of the United States, who will visit Indonesia in the coming days. The visit will surely tighten the relationship between the two countries especially when the guest president is so familiar with Indonesia.

The little Obama was formerly a pupil of Menteng Dalam Elementary School in Jakarta. Obama came to Indonesia in 1967 together with his mother Ann Durham and his step-father L. Soetoro. His step-father met with his mother by mid of the 1960s and married her after the latter divorced with his former husband in 1963 when Obama was just 2 years old.

He was enrolled at the first-grade pupil of Menteng Dalam School in 1968 under the name of Barry Soetoro, as an Indonesian citizen born in Hawaii. He ended his study at the elementary school only until the 3^rd grade as he had to leave the country to his birthplace in Hawaii in 1971.

Known as a smart pupil, he once composed an article and read his dream in front of the class on his aspiration to become a president. It was not clear whether he wanted to become the president of Indonesia or the country where he was born.  But one thing for sure, his dream came true when he was inaugurated as the 44^th American president on December 20, 2008. 

Bakso and Nasi Goreng

After staying at Menteng Dalam, the little Barry and the whole family removed to a rented house in 1970 belonged to retired military personnel, at Jalan Amir Hamzah No 22. The house today is preserved as the Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo has declared it into Jakarta’s cultural inheritance. Many people including foreigners wanted to buy the house at a much higher price after Obama became the American president.

The little Barry had a lot of friends and loved to get along with the environment where he lived. This created a strong emotional bond with his fellow mates, teachers, and neighboring children. He has been accustomed to Indonesian food especially bakso (meatballs), nasi goreng (fried rice), and rambutan, a hairy fruit which tree grows up easily in Jakarta.

 

The strong memory related to the taste of the meals has made him still long for them. We sincerely hope that during his visit to Indonesia, His Excellency will have a chance to taste bakso and nasi goreng.

Selamat datang Mr. President!

Mangrove Forest, Jakarta City Lungs

Jakarta as the capital and metropolitan city has the advantage of having a location in the coastal area. Most of the coastal areas originally consisted of marsh and mangrove forest. The old ex-Batavia city was expanded from surrounding the old harbor in the north southward. But in the course of the time, most people seemed to prefer living in hinterland rather than the coastal area. They were receding from the old ex-Batavia coastal areas and developing the residential area in the southern part of the city. The old area was almost abandoned leaving the old buildings and infrastructure almost untouched, in which the slum areas grew in the surrounding of the old harbor. 

However, this situation has changed after the  Ancol Dreamland park was developed in the 1980s, when some properties and residential areas started to be developed nearby the park as the areas became no longer “remote”. 

Several large residential areas, among other  Pantai Indah Kapuk  (PIK), were developed after the issuance of Presidential Decree No. 52/1995 on the reclamation of the coastal area. Under this decree, the developers were given the permit to re-claim 800 hectares of the mangrove areas to be the site of a residential area. The reclamation had caused public protest and certain NGOs and noted figures sued the city government at the state administrative court. The protest, however, did not stop the reclamation and the building construction. 

The decree gave effect to the reduction of the mangrove forest along the bay of Jakarta which was originally part of the city lung. This disadvantage of losing the city greenery area was compensated with other areas in Sukabumi and Seribu Islands which, alas, were far from the original forest site. 

The decrease in the mangrove forest resulted in many problems. The ecosystem of the area became seriously hampered, the abrasion of coastal areas was intensified, many houses of the fishermen and the toll road connecting the city with the international airport were frequently inundated.

To cope with those problems, the City Government launched the program to plant 3 million mangrove seedlings along with the swampy lands in the north coast of 35 kilometers long to make green belt at those flood-prone areas. One of the mangrove forests which has been preserved so far was Muara Angke. It is now the sanctuary of 90 special birds, some of which are vulnerable to the extinction. The place becomes safer for those species to stay and become the exemplary model for the reforestation.

Just recently, Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo together with the delegation consisting of governors and mayors from different countries attending the Asian-European Meeting (ASEM) planted 5000 mangrove seedlings at the Kapuk Indah mangrove forest.  As a symbolic gesture, the Jakarta governor accompanied by Berlin and Vientiane city mayors planted the mangrove seedling demonstrating the participant governors’  commitment for the preservation of the environment and implementation of sustainable development. 

Die Herren Gouverneure ich danke Ihnen sehr!

 

Jakarta’s Flooding and Residents’ Bad Habit

We are now entering the rainy season and should be ready to face for the worst. And it did really come to happen on Monday, 25 October 2010 when heavy rains felt in Jakarta causing flooding everywhere. Big traffic jam which followed made Jakarta paralyzed and most people came home from their workplaces only by midnight.

The weather in this year seems bizarre since we have got rains almost every day for the whole year through. Was this weather disturbance caused by global warming? Well, we cross the finger that it was not true. The Jakarta residents experience the flooding almost annually but the worst condition happens cyclically every five years. High rainfall, accumulation of garbage, silting up rivers, poor drainage, and lack of soil absorption, are the causes of flooding in Jakarta. The rapid urbanization is also one of the factors which catalyze this poor condition.

Natural Causal Factors

Simak

Baca secara fonetik

As a city situated at the lower mainland, Jakarta is never free from the threat of flooding. During the Dutch colonial era floods inundated Jakarta many times although not as frequent as those happened today. Flood disaster in Jakarta was first recorded in 1621, albeit the construction of several canals to prevent flooding besides its function as transportation means imitating those of cities in the Netherlands.

One of the worst was a catastrophic flood in February 1918 when almost all areas in Jakarta were underwater. Learning from those experiences, the flood control systems were improved, such as Manggarai water gates. But it was not enough. Less than 20 years since the completion of the flood canal project, some areas of Batavia were again heavily flooded in 1930 and in 1932. These conditions arose because of the degradation of the upstream catchment areas, where the forest in the Puncak and the surrounding was converted into tea and rubber plantations because of the price hike happened in the 1930s.  

To compensate that degrading impact, the construction of the west flood canal which started in 1920 was accelerated. After independence, the city government tried to complete the project but was bogged down for some years because it passed the highly populated regions. 

Several efforts were carried out among others the construction of water reservoirs in 1965, Cengkareng Drainage System in 1983, east flood canal (EFC) in 2002. When the EFC is completed, at the end of 2010 (?), there will be greenery space along the canal banks with special lanes for jogging and bike-riders. We are afraid that such good planning will only become a daydreaming, as the city water transport in this canal which was in operation two years ago only lasted for six months.

Residents’ Bad Habit

Another factor which causes flooding is the community’s bad habit in throwing garbage to any flowing water, drains, rivers and canals. Most often waste from city residents living at the river bank are not gathered and people throw it indifferently into the river.  Although the city employees regularly take out the garbage,  the rivers are always full of solid waste as people preserve their bad habit.  

Jakarta Public Works Department is planning to increase the number of automatic garbage strainer units along the river which is obviously very costly. The city government has launched the Program of Clean Ciliwung with the target to freed it from the trash in 2012. The program is intended to increase public awareness, and to keep the spirit of the citizens not to throw garbage into the rivers.

Baca secara fonetik

But it would be not enough. SimakThe city government has, in addition, to treat all the areas along the river banks as green belt and greenery areas. The slum area at the river banks should be removed. Residents who live at the river banks must be enforced not throwing the waste into the river. The city government should issue a decree to fine those who violate the rule, while providing sufficient garbage disposals.

A campaign to change Jakarta residents' bad habit should be continuously launched. The rivers and canals in Jakarta should be free of waste and garbage.  "Throwing the garbage into the river is as bad as throwing the garbage to the road!"

Have We Learnt the Lessons?

The recent fire incident that damaged the Musi Bridge in Palembang reminds us of the similar unpleasant event happened under the fly-over toll road in North Jakarta a couple years ago. These grotesque fire incidents indicate that we are indifferent, reckless and careless when it related to the public properties. This grim attitude is not only limited to the character of the local people or the respective institutions concerned but to our society and nation as a whole. 

It seems that we are quite capable to construct nice toll roads, immense bridges, and other important infrastructures but we don’t know how to maintain them. In August 2007 the fire burnt down the “Jembatan Tiga” fly-over toll road in North Jakarta caused initially by a fire sparked from one of the shelters beneath. The incident seriously weakened the steel structure of the concrete blocks and damaged heavily the toll road, jammed the traffic in North Jakarta for months.

The problems arose when in 2002 the Minister of Settlement and Regional Infrastructure (MoSRI) gave permits to the poor to live under the toll roads through the “memorable” decree No. 214/KPTS/M/2002. As everybody had foreseen, the area under the fly-over toll road soon became slum areas. 

Under such Ministry decree, the occupants obviously considered themselves as having the full right in doing their household and daily activities whatever it was, cooking including. As the condition under the toll road getting worse and uncontrollable, the permit was finally annulled by the Minister of Public Works at the end of 2006.

But as we all know, once one allows and tolerates illegal shelters to be built and grown in a certain area, it is hard and almost impossible to evict them to other settlements, not to mention those having the permit, even with some compensation. And, then, suddenly they became illegal occupants as the permit was annulled. The burden was shifted to the city government which should, then, handled properly and carefully all those messy.

The fund spent on the renovation of the toll road was more than Rp40 billion. A big question remains unanswered. How come that such permission is given without due considerations on the aspect of damaging risk that might be caused by the occupants of the shelters? How come that such vital and expensive toll road was allowed to be used simply as a collective roof for the slum shelters? The decree No. 214/KPTS/M/2002 of the MoSRI issued in 2002 was, indeed, the biggest blunder ever made by a government institution. 

The situation became worst when the occupants did not have any guilty feeling whatsoever and protested the plan to remove them from the area under the fly-over toll road and held a demo under the coordination of  “Urban Poor Consortium” NGO, and wanted to rebuild their burnt houses. The occupants simply rejected the offer when the city government planned to remove them to another place even with compensation.

This problem emerged again and again because we are too indifferent and careless. we are used to looking to the problem of the poverty upside down. We wanted to give compensations or resettle them in modest apartments rather than giving those facilities to the more disciplined good poor people who were in the same deprived conditions but more observant to the laws and orders. 

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And now there again happens the fire incident damaging the Musi Bridge in Palembang on 10 October 2010. The fire razed the traditional market which is allowed to settle under the bridge causing serious damage to the bridge. The  Musi bridge is not only a vital and expensive infrastructure but also a prestigious monumental icon of the region. It is also monumental as it was the first longest bridge ever constructed in the country integrating the road networks in Sumatra. 

We hope that the bridge's supporting steel was not heavily damaged which might cause such a beautiful bridge collapse. Were these reckless, careless and indifferent attitudes towards the safety and security of the public properties really our national character? 

Have we learned the lessons?

The Slum Areas and the Image of the Railway State Company

When you have a chance traveling by train, just after leaving the Kota (City) or Senen stations, you will see slums at the sides of the railway's tracks.  The efforts to cope with the slums in Jakarta has by far given no result, especially when facing the slums within the areas of  PT. Kereta Api Indonesia, the railway state-owned company.

The slums certainly degenerate the city living condition. The occupants construct illegally simple houses made of woods or sometimes plastic materials, without sanitation and no legal electricity. They can stay there persistently because of the indifference and careless of the station authority for allowing such slums and in some degree the electricity officials for the continuous supply of illegal electric power. This situation can no longer be tolerated, especially when it involves the "collaboration" between the slum occupants and the company's security officers. 

The occupants mostly come from outside Jakarta,  the people who are seeking for opportunities to earn money as sidewalk traders and such kinds or collecting waste articles. Most occupants are illegal residents who don’t have any city identity cards. Some of them live almost permanently and some others are seasonally such as farm-laborers who come to Jakarta only temporarily after rice cultivation and stay there until the harvesting time. 

Many efforts to remove the slum shelters from the public area have been launched several times but without result. The occupants always come back within a couple days after the eviction and rebuild their shelters without facing any difficulty.  

The banning of the slums in Jakarta and especially along the railway tracks is urgently needed. It is not the question of the social problem of poverty that the government tolerates such indecent and irresponsible way of living. There are many poor who do not want to live in such a condition because of their honor and dignity. It is more on the question of willingness and determination of the related parties’ concern to solve the problem once for all.

According to the official estimation, it requires at least two years to complete the program relocating people living along the railway tracks. To carry out the program, the central government has allocated the fund around Rp 2 trillion in the period of 2010 to 2012. The fund will be spent for the construction of rail fences, tree planting along the railway tracks and relocating the illegal occupants of the area.

The government should have the political will and strong determination to clear the slum areas with comprehensive planning and target. The same attitude should be also adopted by the management of PT. Kereta Api Indonesia. The management should put stress more on the tidiness of the area surrounding the station and railway tracks, on safety and the safeguard of the state properties. 

The management must demonstrate their attitude towards the safety by strongly forbidding the passengers to ride on the roof of the train coach which is by any standard cannot be tolerated any longer. The train drivers who have high responsibility on bringing such valuable assets and the safety of so many passengers should be paid more attention to their remuneration and welfare albeit their category as blue-collar workers. Many accidents happen in the form of trains collisions and the recent Rangkasbitung incident on October 11, 2010, where so many train coaches burnt heavily indicate that something wrong happens within  PT. Kereta Api management.

Jakarta, the Greenery Area?

If you lived in Jakarta a couple of decades ago, you experienced as living in a big village.  There was a movie entitled "Big Village" telling the story about life in Jakarta on those days. Jakarta indeed had been known as a big village which gradually changed into a big metropolitan with many skyscrapers and concrete blocks. Now Jakarta is getting hotter and more polluted due to the increase in the number of vehicles moving around and the lack of greenery areas in the city. 

The city government is planning the development of city forest around 30% of the total Jakarta area. However, the target seems too optimistic because the greenery area dwindled drastically from 27%  in the early 1960s to only 9.5% as of today, making Jakarta become barren. Instead of having a city forest, we get a forest of concrete blocks. What amazing development!

 Plants are necessary for improving air quality through the process of photosynthesis, which converts carbon dioxide into oxygen. Every one hectare of greenery area can convert 3.7 tons of CO2 – resulting from human activities, industry, and vehicles – to become 2 tons of O2.

Today, the city forest is prevailing in 14 locations including city forest of Kemayoran, Halim Perdana Kusuma, Pondok Kelapa, Cijantung, Srengseng, and the University of Indonesia. The activities of planting more trees in those locations last year were mainly handled by privates sectors through the program of one man one tree. This program was launched after the city government was only able to allocate a meager budget for such activities. 

An exemplary successful model of the man-made forest of 6.3 hectares at Kemayoran developed starting four years ago. Various trees of 1,700 species have grown up well and now become the den for around 90 species of birds. It becomes the city lungs producing fresh air for people living in the nearby areas and making their living condition become healthier. Other public parks recently developed are Taman Menteng and Taman Mahakam which changes the landscape a lot for the better. 

The officials of the city park department have set the plan to cultivate more rare and exotic plants in the whole city forests. We are happy with that planning and hope that it will be seriously implemented. We appreciate the sidewalk ornamental plant traders in Jakarta. They make the street where they sell their goods to become tidier, greenery and beautiful. 

 Due to the worsening condition of the ecosystem in the coast of  Jakarta, some of the activist groups planted seedlings of mangrove in a belt along the coast which in turn might hamper the coastal erosion in North Jakarta. As to the present condition, not only the erosion of the coast has taken place for years, the intrusion of seawater has even reached the area around the National Monument.

The city government hopes that the people movement might gain two results in at once: Jakarta is more greenery and coastal erosion is reduced. But what is more important in such an activity is that people are taught to be more aware of maintaining good ecosystem and more careful in improving the environmental condition.

Some people criticized the City Park Department in their efforts to create new forest had put stress more to the aspect of aesthetic rather than their effects on the environment. They pointed out the plantation of some palm trees, which they claimed the trees absorb too much water for themselves. We are, however,  in the opinion of the contrary. Many of the plant species cultivated along the street do not meet the esthetical aspect at all. 

The Department of City Park still has to pay more attention to it. Albeit they contribute less for the greenery spaces, the palm tree, for example,  is able to give the impression of tropical exotics which represents Indonesian image as a country located along the equator.  Maybe we can take the lessons from the big cities located in the similar condition such as Singapore, Honolulu, Los Angelos or the cities along the Mediterranean.  

Jakarta Bird Markets and Endangered Species

If you have spare time in the weekdays or especially in weekend and if you are a bird-lover, you can take a walk to Jalan Pramuka in Matraman and Jatinegara in East Jakarta where you can find bird markets among many existing in Jakarta. The birds sold in this market are ranging from local to imported including the rare ones.  

For local birds, we can find Java turtledove, yellow orioles, pigeons, Papuan parrots, Bali starlings, Papuan parrots, or some kinds of birds of paradise and canaries. Some traders even have collections of tropically imported birds such as Guatemalan parrots, Mexican parrots, and some other ones. Most birds on sales here are able to sing loudly, which attract customers who mostly love singing birds to come here.

The traders provide their customers with bird cages of different sizes, ornaments, and quality. Cage materials are also varied, ranging from the teakwood up to mahogany and iron which has an antique design and color.  Special food for birds and animals can also be found, including small insects and larvae. 

If you step into the market, you will be surprised, because this bird market does not simply sell birds, but also other kinds of animals such as orangutan and Sumatran tiger despite the prohibitions of the government and internationally strict regulations. Others which are on sales are Celebes macaque, a crested macaque, black monkey, and the long-limb gibbons. These animals are smuggled into the market and frequently in poor condition due to the inability of the traders to provide them with nutrient and enough food.

In case you are really interested in certain species, but it is not available, the traders can guarantee you that they can search for the animal in the next few days, and you can come to the spot on the compromised day to buy and take it home. Here in bird markets, there are at least 200 traders who earn money just from buying and selling rare birds and animals. 

The Matraman bird market is the biggest in Southeast Asia and was inaugurated by Governor Ali Sadikin in 1975. Initially, it was intended to collect and sell local birds, but as time goes, the traders start selling the exotic and endangered species of birds and animals. The Jatinegara bird market in East Jakarta also sells similar rare birds and animals though on a smaller scale. 

Buyers must be careful to buy the birds here because their health condition is questionable and there are a lot of brokers who try to offer their help – certainly with extra payment. We are really sorry to the fact that some of the species which are sold here might extinct on earth. The government, especially the local one,  should pay more attention to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) issuing the list birds and animals which are about to extinct and observe strictly the regulation by banning such animal trades. The species listed in IUCN as endangered species among others are Bali starling, Java hawk, Sumatran tiger, Java rhinoceros, birds of paradise and orangutan.

Traders of rare birds at Pramuka bird market are under the protection of preman (thugs). The problem keeps on going because regulations are not implementable; demand from foreign countries for rare birds and animals is high; the networks to foreign countries are already established, and people are not quite aware of the importance of maintaining the rare species as the world inheritance.

In commemoration of the World Wildlife Day on October 3, 2010, many people – citizens and also some expatriates – rallied at Hotel Indonesia, Central Jakarta, urging the city government to pay more attention to the illegal bird sales and stop any activities of certain people catching, keeping and selling various kinds of birds, some of which are on the brink of their extinction. Some posters and banners held by the demonstrators during the rally expressed their wishes and concerns such as: “House of birds in the forest, not the bird markets” and “We march against the wildlife trade.” 

And how about you?

Rambutan, the Jakarta Native Fruit

Maybe Jakarta is the only state capital endowed with various fruit trees. Indonesian people know well about an old song entitled Banana Cha-cha-cha indicating that the city is a fertile area where a lot of fruit-trees can be easily cultivated especially papaya, mango, bananas, guavas, and rambutan.

If you have a house with sufficient large garden, you can try to cultivate one of them but mostly rambutan tree. Jakarta seems to have suitable good weather with enough rain and good soil for any kind of rambutan tree which is capable to produce a lot of fruits.  

A good thing is that its leaves can make Jakarta become greenery. When we are in rambutan season, the green leaves are almost covered by the beautiful red color of mature rambutan fruits. And at that time, you can buy rambutan with cheaper price sold by the sidewalk traders.

Rambutan scientifically is named as Nephelium lappaceum Linn. In general, rambutan trees are planted in places where the land contains water, the air slightly moist until at an altitude of 600 m above sea level. Rambutan trees have many ramifications, with the height up to 20m or more. The leaves are oval, light green color, fruit-stranded, skin color green, yellow, or red if it is mature. The fruit contains protein, fat, phosphorus, iron, calcium, and vitamin C. His skin may be used as remedy dysentery.

In Jakarta, the rambutan tree widely planted in the area of Ciracas and Cilangkap, the southern part of Jakarta. Trees are planted either from seed or from slips and they don’t require special attention. After four to five years, the trees will bear fruit once every year for more than 15 years.

There are 22 kinds of rambutan cultivated in Jakarta, but only five kinds which are highly economical to cultivate. Rambutan is a hairy fruit having red, yellow or green with sweet flesh and a bit dry, chewy, and sometimes easily removed from its kernel. The fruit can endure up to 6 days after picking up.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) when campaigning for his presidency last year, he held the press conference under rambutan trees in the polling booth near his residence in Puri Cikeas, Bogor.

Barack Obama, now the president of United States of America, when he spent his childhood in Jakarta, in 1967 to 1971, he liked to eat rambutan along with his other food favorites namely bakso (meatball) and nasi goreng (fried rice). 


As he postponed his trip to Indonesia twice because of his duty to push through health care reform and later the Gulf of Mexico oil spill problems, maybe in the next visit in November, he would like to eat his nostalgic fruit, hoping that next November will be the rambutan season.