Jakarta Celebrates Its Anniversary

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.

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.

National Monument, Soekarno's long time obsession

National Monument, popularly known as Monas, was constructed aiming at commemorating and preserving the Indonesian struggle for independence during the revolution in 1945, for the inspiration and spirit of patriotism of the current and future generations.

The towering monument in the form of an obelisk-marble stone stands for the phallus (lingga), measured by 132 meters high, and cup (yoni) symbolizing the fertility. On top of the monument, there is cup-shaped space, supporting a bronze torch flame which weighs 15 tons and gold plated 35 kilograms. It is "the non-extinguishable fire", symbolizing the unstoppable struggle of Indonesian independence.

The space at the top is of 11x11 square meters and can accommodate 50 visitors. Along with the elevator, there is an emergency staircase made of iron. Standing at the space on the top of the monument, visitors can enjoy spectacular views across the city of Jakarta, wherein southerly direction, there stands in the distance Mount Salak in Bogor regency, West Java, in the north stretches the sea with small islands scattered. When turned to the west the Soekarno-Hatta Airport is looming in the distance and at any time people can see a plane take off or prepare for landing.

The height of the cup from the bottom is 17 m and from the history, the museum is 8 m. The courtyard of the history museum measuring by 45x45 m is nothing but the preservation of sacred figures of the proclamation of independence (17-8-1945). Visitors of the monument, who will climb to the peak can step up through the entrance plaza of the park around the Merdeka Square, in the north of the monument. Through the tunnel which is 3 m below the monument, visitors can step into the monument peak through the entrance fenced with yellow bamboo.

Facts in Briefs

The height of the monument is 132 m. Flames (in the form of gold leaves) on top of the monument are of 14 m high, the 3rd floor of the monument is 115 high above the ground. Inside the monument, there are 51 dioramas. Cost for its construction was 700,000 dollars. The national monument was built in an area of 80 hectares. It was designed by Friedrich Silaban and M. Soedarsono.

The construction began on August 17, 1961, as the manifestation of Soekarno's great idea, the first Indonesian president, and was inaugurated on July 12, 1975, by President Soeharto. In the northern corner of the square, there is the fountain and statue of Prince Diponegoro,  who fought against Dutch in 1825-1830, riding his horse, made of bronze weighing 8 tons. The statue was created by Italian sculptor, Prof. Coberlato as a contribution of his Consulate General in Indonesia.

The monument was the long obsession of Soekarno, the proclaimers of Indonesian independence. He was certainly a big nation and character builder. He did not have a chance to build a strong and robust economic foundation for his nation but he believed that the first thing he had to do was building the nation spirit, character, integrity, maturity, pride, and independence from other nations. Without those foundations, a nation would be easily swaying to and fro just like grasses blew by the wind.

It was early in 1966 when Jakarta streets were inundated by demonstrators asking for his resignation, Soekarno felt very lonely, nobody, even the closest friends dared to accompany him. When he was asked why he still wanted to continue building Monas, one of his ambitious projects, he answered: "Look," said Sukarno looking far away through the sky: "If the construction of this monument, which is taller than the White House monument, could be completed, it will be great. Imagine! One or two hundred years from now, if there is a plane full of foreign tourists hovering over Jakarta, the passengers looking downward, admiring the monument,   they will say to each other,  'Look on my friends, there certainly a great nation live beneath'. "