Jakarta has just celebrated its 484 years of its anniversary marked by the opening of the Jakarta Fair. The city got the honor from the President of the Republic, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who officially opened the Jakarta Fair on June 09 as the mark of the anniversary. Since it was initiated by Governor Ali Sadikin in 1967 the Jakarta Fair grew bigger and promoted more products nationally as well as internationally.
During the fair, lasting from June 9 to July 10, we could see various entertainments, business activities, displays of new products and possibilities of having business trading partners. Visitors amounting to 4,2 million as compared to 3,8 million people last year were entertained by 250 group bands performing life music successively. More than 2,500 national and international companies took part in Jakarta Fair opening 1,300 stands, not to mention outlets and stalls for sidewalk traders.
The total transaction during the event was Rp3.5 trillion (around US$ 4 billion), wherein the last few days the rate of the transaction was higher to triple because of bigger discounts for buyers. The official of the whole activities’ coordinator, the Jakarta International Expo, said that the expo met with their satisfaction.
The stipulation of the date of June 22, 1527, as the first establishment of Jakarta, causes recent controversies. It was based on one point in time in history almost 5 centuries ago when Fatahillah a commander of Demak Kingdom won the war against Portuguese.
Previously, in 1521, Portuguese held a treaty with Pakuan-Pajajaran, allowing them to construct a fort in the beach of Sunda Kelapa, which is at the north coast of Jakarta today, and annually receive spices from the kingdom as compensation of the Portuguese protection against the enemies. This event was memorized in Padrao Stone which is now kept in National Museum.
The Prince Fatahillah from Demak, Central Java, in coordination with Cirebon, being afraid that the agreement could hamper Islamic development, attacked Sunda Kelapa as well as Portuguese' fort and took it over. But before Fatahillah launched the full war, Portuguese fled away to Malacca where they felt more secure. Meanwhile, the locals, the Betawian people, were driven out without any resistance to the hinterland. The day was coined as Jayakarta, the victory day, taken as the original name of ancient Jakarta.
Some noted Betawian, however, were not happy with the stipulation and prefer instead the date of September 3, 1945, when Soekano stipulated Jakarta as a municipal. Albeit the controversies, as Jakarta has grown for the better, let’s all city residents celebrate the anniversary with joy.
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