A stinky, great place to live

A stinky, great place to live

Like blue cheese, Jakarta is an acquired taste. Love at first
sight? With high poverty and crime rates, pollution, bad city
planning, lack of decent and cheap public transportation, daily
traffic jams, omnipresent shopping malls, minimal greenery and
yearly floods, even longtime dwellers like me were not that quick
to form an affection.

The city does not have the glam factor of
her neighbors Singapore and Bangkok. Nor catchy initials like KL.
And while full of designer-hungry fashionistas (and fashion
victims), she is outdone every time by London, Paris, Milan, New
York, Hong Kong and Tokyo.

Some time ago, somebody named the capital "The Big Durian".
Perfect! Like the oval fruit, the stench is unbearable, it's not
for everyone and the shell is prickly. Though, judging from the
blank looks on the faces of most Indonesians I know, and a
smattering of expats, when I use this name, it is yet to catch
on. Still, it does have more bounce to it than plain old Jakarta.
I'm surprised Sutiyoso hasn't cottoned on and used the name in
his campaigns

And even after you've grown to love her, Jakarta proves to be
a difficult mistress. Every Jakarta resident has a love-hate
relationship with the city. She tests your patience -- this
morning I spent two hours in Casablanca traffic -- yet, sticking
around, has its own rewards. Skeptics would probably want to slap
me silly for such enthusiasm, but its nooks and crannies hold
endless possibilities.

First of all, I like the fact that everything comes to you.
The shoe-repair man, the grocery man, the fried rice man and the
woman selling traditional sweets -- all pass the neighborhood
every morning. No time to pop by the supermarket? Just ask the
maid and she'll holler "Sayur (vegetables)" and stock the kitchen
with all the grocery man has on offer. Which brings me to another
good thing about the city. The abundance of relatively cheap
labor means you can have a maid, nanny, driver, security guard
and cook all taking care of your household -- although hiring
the wrong person is a headache in itself. Arguably this makes us
a precious, pampered lot, but then again, who does not want to be
treated like royalty?

Then there's the fact that many stores are open every day of
the year. Not to mention the long opening hours. 24-hour
restaurants? Check. And a wonderfully diverse range of food and
wares. Of course, people continue to complain that imported goods
are overpriced, but I am not convinced as the price tags of
fashion and luxury items are more or less the same in Singapore,
KL and Dubai. We also get certain goods (like digital cameras)
cheaper, even compared to Hong Kong.

To those who think that Jakarta has nothing to offer culture
buffs, my advice is, look closer. Granted, we do not have
world-class museums or Broadway, but foreign cultural centers
often hold interesting exhibitions and performances and usually
for free. Yearly movie festivals are thriving, with cheap or free
tickets available. Local groups like the Utan Kayu Community and
Sahabat Museum offer regular events and activities. Utan Kayu
screens movies and holds cultural talks among other things, while
Sahabat Museum organizes dirt-cheap yet informative walking tours
of the city's heritage areas. Small galleries, such as Artnivora,
provide struggling artists with a place to show their work.

Yet, unquestionably the best things about Jakarta are the raw
energy and the people. Although, it might look like we're all
selfish bastards, it's hard to be lonely in this city. There's
always a friendly face in the crowd. To other Indonesians,
Jakartans are an ambitious bunch who love to party hard. Well,
why not? It's just a great place to live! Happy birthday,
Jakarta!

--Krabbe K. Piting