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?

Kris, the Heritage of Humanity

If you go to Jatinegara, in the district of East Jakarta, you will discover Pasar Rawa Bening, a market selling products which reflect the historical background of Indonesia. There are about 1000 stalls. Visitors usually come mostly on Saturday and Sunday. You will find keris, which has a strong influence among the Javanese, various gemstones, black bracelets made from tree roots and the Arab oil for the purpose of superstition. The overall market is a place to accommodate the purchasers who believe in something that can bring fame and fortune to them. In Javanese culture, a kris is not just a martial weapon but more as a status symbol of the owner.  The better the quality of the kris, the higher the status of the owner is. But owning a kris means having an obligation to follow the special ritual to maintain it such as to clean it annually and dry it under the sun.  Anybody who wants to buy it has to make sure that he will fit for a certain kris, and that the kris “likes to stay with him”. In such a case the purchasing power is not the most important thing. Rumors said that if a kris “doesn’t like to stay with him” bad thing might occur and will trouble the owner. Museum Pusaka If you have an interest and are more serious about a kris, you can visit Museum Pusaka, literally meaning sacred heritance museum, containing various kinds of krisses from all over regions in Indonesia. Located at Mini Indonesia Park Jakarta (TMII) on a site of 3,800 square meters, the museum is getting important today because the Indonesian kris has been recognized by UNESCO as the heritage of humanity. You can easily recognize the museum as it has a specific characteristic of a kris-like-model attached to the roof with its tip pointing out to the sky. The museum has special rooms for exhibition and sales, special information, management, conservations, and library. The museum, whose construction was initiated by the then First Lady, Ibu Tien Soeharto, in the 1980s, now collects some of the legendary krisses from the olden times, among others, Nagasasra Sabuk Inten from the Mataram Kingdom, Kujang from Pajajaran era or Singa Barong from Central Java ornamented with gold in-lay at its blade. The collections coming into the museum are from the donations of the haves and the purchase from locals in any provinces where the kris is well known and available.  To make the kris become more popular, the officials working here regularly hold exhibitions, sometimes under the cooperation with foreign partners. Heritage of Humanity Through the constant exhibition and reports in details as done by Kris experts like Haryono Guritno and Sungkowwo Harumbrodjo to UN officials, UNESCO finally in 2005 recognized it as the heritage of humanity. UNESCO pays attention to this Indonesian traditional dagger because of its various features. The unique form of the kris, the metallurgical process during the forging, the metaphysical feature as found in certain krisses have even attracted the interest of foreign people to know more about it. The process of carving, ornaments on the kris sheath the spiritual meditation prior to the forging all full of philosophy and mystical belief making this artistic weapon become an obscure mystery.

There are differences of opinion about the origin of the word "Kris". In the Encyclopedia of Kris sold in the museum, the first-word “keris” was written on a brass plate found around the year 825, in Karang Tengah village. 

Kris is an Indonesian traditional hand-held weapon with a length of about 30 to 40 cm (excluding handles) which has become popular and widely developed in Java and Southeast Asia since the 10th century. This weapon forged in such a way that both the blade sharp and asymmetric shape.

The curved shapes (“luk”) of kris generally were odd in number namely 3, 5, 7, 11, or 13. But there is also kris which is straight without “luk”. In the process of forging, the steel materials are mixed with titanium element or any material from the meteorite. A kris with such mixtures increases its prestige and obviously its price.  When it is still hot the sheets of iron and meteorite mixture are forged and folded into 2, 4, 8, 16, and so on until they reach 4.000 for a very good quality kris. 

To make a good kris one requires material of 20 kg iron, half kg of steel, and around a one-eighth kg of meteorite. In the end, we get only around a half kg of dagger blade, the remaining materials have been reduced into gas, ash and metal fragments. Such a kris ornamented with a plate of gold could be worth up to Rp 100 million (US$ 10,000).


But if you buy kris in a market like Jatinegara, you may get only a dagger blade made of ordinary iron tempered and formed in shape of kris. And you can bring home such a kris for around Rp 2 million (US$ 200) and even less if you are a good bargainer.

 

According to the tradition, especially Javanese one, to bear a kris is not simple and sometimes very complicated depending on what purpose one wears it. Some people believe that some rituals must be done in order to avoid disharmony between the kris and the owner, otherwise, disasters and tribulations could happen.

Having informed this do you want to possess one?