Merdeka Palace: Big, old and spooky<\/p>\n
Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
For many people, home is a sanctuary, a place to show their true
\nself and seek shelter from the chaos outside. If one lives at
\nMerdeka Palace, however, being at home means conforming to yet
\nanother set of protocols.<\/p>\n
\"I could never go out (of my room) in my nightgown or with
\nmessy hair,\" Yenny Zannuba Wahid, daughter of former president
\nAbdurrahman \"Gus Dur\" Wahid, recalled on Tuesday -- bodyguards
\nwould always be around the corner and other staff members were
\nlikely to be nearby.<\/p>\n
\"For an informal family like ours, it was a bit of a hassle,\"
\nthe 30-year-old said.<\/p>\n
Aside from Gus Dur, founding president Sukarno was the only
\nother head of state who resided in Merdeka Palace, the official
\npresidential residence. The other three -- Soeharto, BJ Habibie
\nand Megawati Soekarnoputri -- stayed at separate residences
\noutside of palace grounds.<\/p>\n
President-elect Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, however, has opted
\nnot to remain at his private residence in Cikeas, Bogor, and
\ninstead occupy the palace during his tenure.<\/p>\n
\"I think it will be easier for him, coming from the military.
\nHe's used to the discipline,\" said Yenny.<\/p>\n
Merdeka Palace may seem like a palace out of fairy tales --
\nimmense, white and luxurious, with servants at one's beck and
\ncall. The bedrooms are located off a large hall inside.<\/p>\n
\"Actually, it's not really that comfortable living there,\"
\nsaid Yenny, who lived at the palace from 1999 to 2001.<\/p>\n
She could forget about some of the small pleasures that could
\nbe had in an ordinary home, like cooking instant noodles herself
\nfor a midnight snack -- no separate kitchen is available for
\nfamily use. \"We had to ask somebody to make it for us,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Still, the many trees in the vast garden made it a beautiful
\nplace for afternoon walks.<\/p>\n
\"But there were loads of mosquitoes,\" she said. \"The palace is
\nnot as luxurious as people may think. It's an old building.\"<\/p>\n
The 2,400 sq m Merdeka Palace was built in 1873 by the Dutch
\nEast Indies administration to complement the State Palace, which
\nwas constructed in 1796 by Dutch businessman J.A. van Braam. The
\nState Palace is used to hold official functions.<\/p>\n
Both structures are located in the 6.8-hectare presidential
\ncompound in Central Jakarta, which also houses Wisma Negara --
\nthe State Guest House -- a museum and a mosque.<\/p>\n
These buildings have witnessed many important historic events,
\nsuch as how the Dutch planned to capture Javanese Prince
\nDiponegoro in the late 1820s, the Linggarjati agreement of 1947
\nand the Dutch's recognition of Indonesian sovereignty in 1949.<\/p>\n
With such a history, it is no wonder that the place is a bit
\nspooky.<\/p>\n
\"There were lots of ghosts there,\" said Yenny, who in 2002
\ncontributed an article on the phenomenon in Latitudes magazine.
\n\"They sometimes scared my little sister by turning the lights on
\nand off,\" she added.<\/p>\n
Even Gus Dur's chair moved by itself and burly bodyguards did
\nnot dare sleep alone in their basement quarters.<\/p>\n
People who had seen the ghosts said there were others,
\nincluding a dwarf, a headless man and -- of course, as it was a
\nformer colonial building -- a Dutch lady with long blond hair in
\na flowing gown.<\/p>\n
\"My mother often held Koran recitals in the palace, so it was
\nnot so creepy,\" said Yenny. \"But still, if we had to cross the
\nhall at night, we sprinted across,\" she added with a small laugh.<\/p>\n
It will be curious to learn what things go bump in the night
\nduring Susilo's time in the palace.<\/p>",
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