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.