its a very good article that i grabbed somewhere….
JAKARTA, INDONESIA A SINKING GIANT?
by Andre Vltchek
Today, high-rises dot the skyline, hundreds of thousands of vehicles
belch fumes on congested traffic arteries and super-malls have become
the cultural centers of gravity in Jakarta,
the fourth largest city in the world. In between towering
super-structures, humble kampongs house the majority of the city
dwellers, who often have no access to basic sanitation, running water
or waste management.
While almost all major capitals in the Southeast Asian region are
investing heavily in public transportation, parks, playgrounds,
sidewalks and cultural institutions like museums, concert halls and
convention centers, Jakarta
remains brutally and determinately ‘pro-market’ profit-driven and
openly indifferent to the plight of a majority of its citizens who are
poor.
Most Jakartans have never left Indonesia, so they cannot compare their capital with Kuala Lumpur or Singapore; with Hanoi or Bangkok.
Comparative statistics and reports hardly make it into the local media.
Despite the fact that the Indonesian capital is for many foreign
visitors a ‘hell on earth,’ the local media describes Jakarta as "modern," "cosmopolitan," and "a sprawling metropolis."
Newcomers are often puzzled by Jakarta’s lack of public amenities. Bangkok,
not exactly known as a user-friendly city, still has several beautiful
parks. Even cash-strapped Port Moresby, capital of Papua New Guinea,
boasts wide promenades, playgrounds, long stretches of beach and sea
walks. Singapore and Kuala Lumpur compete with each other in building wide sidewalks, green areas as well as cultural establishments. Manila,
another city without a glowing reputation for its public amenities, has
succeeded in constructing an impressive sea promenade dotted with
countless cafes and entertainment venues while preserving its World
Heritage Site at Intramuros. Hanoi repaved its wide sidewalks and turned a park around Huan-Kiem Lake into an open-air sculpture museum.
But in Jakarta,
there is a fee for everything. Many green spaces have been converted to
golf courses for the exclusive use of the rich. The approximately one
square kilometer of Monas seems to be the only real public area in a
city of more than 10 million. Despite being a maritime city, Jakarta
has been separated from the sea, with the only focal point being Ancol,
with a tiny, mostly decrepit walkway along the dirty beach dotted with
private businesses.
Even to take a walk in Ancol, a family of four has to spend
approximately $4.50 (40,000 Indonesian Rupiahs) in entrance fees,
something unthinkable anywhere else in the world. The few tiny public
parks which survived privatization are in desperate condition and
mostly unsafe to use.
There are no sidewalks in the entire city, if one applies international
standards to the word "sidewalk." Almost anywhere in the world (with
the striking exception of some cities in the United States, like Houston and Los Angeles)
the cities themselves belong to pedestrians. Cars are increasingly
discouraged from traveling in the city centers. Wide sidewalks are
understood to be the most ecological, healthy and efficient forms of
short-distance public transportation in areas with high concentrations
of people.
In Jakarta,
there are hardly any benches for people to sit and relax, and no free
drinking water fountains or public toilets. It is these small, but
important, ‘details’ that are symbols of urban life anywhere else in
the world.
Most world cities, including those in the region, want to be visited and remembered for their culture. Singapore
is managing to change its ’shop-till-you-drop’ image to that of the
center of Southeast Asian arts. The monumental Esplanade Theatre has
reshaped the skyline, offering first-rate international concerts in
classical music, opera, ballet, and also featuring performances from
some of the leading contemporary artists from the region. Many
performances are subsidized and are either free or cheap, relative to
the high incomes in the city-state.
Kuala Lumpur
spent $100 million on its philharmonic concert hall, which is located
right under the Petronas Towers, among the tallest buildings in the
world. This impressive and prestigious concert hall hosts local
orchestra companies as well top international performers. The city is
currently spending further millions to refurbish its museums and
galleries, from the National Museum to the National Art Gallery.
Hanoi
is proud of its culture and arts, which are promoted as its major
attraction millions of visitors flock into the city to visit countless
galleries stocked with canvases, which can be easily described as some
of the best in Southeast Asia. Its beautifully restored Opera House regularly offers Western and Asian music treats.
Bangkok’s colossal temples and palaces coexist with extremely
cosmopolitan fare international theater and film festivals, countless
performances, jazz clubs with local and foreign artists on the bill, as
well as authentic culinary delights from all corners of the world. When
it comes to music, live performances and nightlife, there is no city in
Southeast Asia as vibrant as Manila.
Now back to Jakarta.
Those who have ever visited the city’s ‘public libraries’ or National
Archives building will know the difference. No wonder; in Indonesia
education, culture and arts are not considered to be ‘profitable’ (with
the exception of pop music), and are therefore made absolutely
irrelevant. The country spends the third lowest amount in the world on
education (according to The Economist, only1.2 percent of its GDP) after Equatorial Guinea and Ecuador (there the situation is now rapidly improving with the new progressive government).
Museums in Jakarta
are in appalling condition, offering absolutely no important
international exhibitions. They look like they fell on the city from a
different era and no wonder the Dutch built almost all of them. Not
only are their collections poorly kept, but they lack elements of
modernity there are no elegant cafes, museum shops, bookstores or even
public archives. It appears that the individuals running them are
without vision and creativity. However, even if they did have inspired
ideas, there would be no funding to carry them out.
It seems that Jakarta
has no city planners, only private developers that have no respect for
the majority of its inhabitants who are poor (the great majority, no
matter what the understated and manipulated government statistics say).
The city abandoned itself to the private sector, which now controls
almost everything, from residential housing to what were once public
areas.
While Singapore decades ago, and Kuala Lumpur recently, managed to fully eradicate poor, unsanitary and depressing kampongs from their urban areas, Jakarta is unable or unwilling to offer its citizens subsidized, affordable housing
equipped with running water, electricity, a sewage system, wastewater
treatment facilities, playgrounds, parks, sidewalks and a mass public
transportation system.
Rich Singapore aside, Kuala Lumpur
with only 2 million inhabitants boasts one metro line (Putra Line), one
monorail, several efficient Star LRT lines, suburban train links and
high-speed rail system connecting the city with its new capital Putrajaya.
The "Rapid" system counts on hundreds of modern, clean and
air-conditioned buses. Transit is subsidized; a bus ticket on "Rapid"
costs only $.60 (2 Malaysian Ringgits) for unlimited day use on the
same line. Heavily discounted daily and monthly passes are also
available.
Bangkok
contracted German firm Siemens to build two long "Sky Train" lines and
one metro line. It is also utilizing its river and channels as both
public transportation and as a tourist attraction. Despite this
enormous progress, the Bangkok city administration claims that it is
building an additional 50 miles (80 kilometers) of tracks for these
systems in order to convince citizens to leave their cars at home and
use public transportation.
Polluting pre-historic buses are being banned from Hanoi, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and gradually from Bangkok. Jakarta, thanks to corruption and phlegmatic officials, is in its own league even in this field.
Mercer Human Resource Consulting, in its reports covering quality of life, places Jakarta repeatedly on the level of poor African and South Asian cities, below metropolises like Nairobi and Medellin.
Considering that it is in the league with some of the poorest capitals of the world, Jakarta is not cheap. According to the Mercer Human Resource Consulting 2006 Survey, Jakarta ranked as the 48th most expensive city in the world for expatriate employees, well above Berlin (72nd), Melbourne (74th) and Washington D.C. (83rd). And if it is expensive for expatriates, how is it for local people with a GDP per capita below $1,000?
Curiously, Jakartans are silent. They have become inured to appalling
air quality just as they have gotten used to the sight of children
begging, even selling themselves at the major intersections; to entire
communities living under elevated highways and in slums on the shores
of canals turned into toxic waste dumps; to the hours-long commutes; to
floods and rats.
But if there is to be any hope, the truth has to eventually be told,
and the sooner the better. Only a realistic and brutal diagnosis can
lead to treatment and a cure. As painful as the truth can be, it is
always better than self-deceptions and lies.
Jakarta
has fallen decades behind capitals in the neighboring countries in
esthetics, housing, urban planning, standard of living, quality of
life, health, education, culture, transportation, food quality and
hygiene. It has to swallow its pride and learn from Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Brisbane and even in some instances from its poorer neighbors like Port Moresby, Manila and Hanoi.
Comparative statistics have to be transparent and widely available.
Citizens have to learn how to ask questions again, and how to demand
answers and accountability. Only if they understand to what depths
their city has sunk can there be any hope of change.
"We have to watch out," said a concerned Malaysian filmmaker during New
Year’s Eve celebrations in Kuala Lumpur. "Malaysia suddenly has too
many problems. If we are not careful, Kuala Lumpur could end up in 20 or 30 years like Jakarta!"
Could this statement be reversed? Can Jakarta
find the strength and solidarity to mobilize in time catch up with
Kuala Lumpur? Can decency overcome greed? Can corruption be eradicated
and replaced by creativity? Can private villas shrink in size and green
spaces, public housing, playgrounds, libraries, schools and hospitals
expand?
An outsider like me can observe, tell the story and ask questions. Only
the people of Jakarta can offer the answers and solutions.
