Access, safety important for 'rumah kost'

A. Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The song titled Nasib Anak Kost (The Fate of Students Living in Boardinghouses), which hit the national charts several years ago, describes the sad situation where many university students live.

The song among others say students rent small rooms in the houses in dirty and crowded areas near their campuses.

Many students are forced to live in such a situation because their parents cannot afford to pay for rooms in decent dormitories now mushrooming around campuses in big cities across the country.

The dormitory business for students has been growing well in big cities around the country, partly because the dormitories provided by universities could not accommodate all their students.

Dormitory owners normally charge rental fees of between Rp 250,000 and Rp 1 million a month, depending on the facilities provided. The cheapest rooms are only equipped with a single bed, while the most expensive ones are equipped with an air- conditioner and an ensuite bathroom.

Finding a room with a good price and located near campus is often not easy for new students, taking them hours, or even days.

Andhika, a new student of the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), recalled that he first asked his friends where good dormitories were.

Accompanied by his parents from Jakarta, the 19-year-old student visited several houses before deciding to rent a room in a house on Jl. Sakelong Timur, Bandung.

"The rental fee is not expensive. But the room is comfortable," Andhika said.

He has to pay a monthly fee of Rp 375,000 for the 3 x 6-meter room which has a bathroom inside. He put a TV set and a computer into his room. With his house located quite far away from his campus, he has to take an angkot or public minivan to go to school.

A room nearer campus of the same size with similar facilities costs twice as much to rent.

Karima, a student at the University of Indonesia (UI), has to pay Rp 600,000 a month for a dormitory room with a bathroom inside.

"It's probably expensive. Yet it's near campus. I can walk to my campus," the Law School student said.

Besides its closeness to her campus, safety is another factor behind Karima's decision to rent a room in the 60-room dormitory

The three-story dormitory on Jl. Sawo, Margonda area, Depok, is guarded by a security guard who lives with his family in the dorm.

"It's safe here," she said.

Safety has become one of the main concerns for students in choosing room to stay, especially after the murder of a student from Bina Nusantara University two months ago.

Yenni Ho was raped and killed when she was taking a nap in her dormitory room in West Jakarta. The killer, who was allegedly a relative of the security guard, also took her cellular phone and money.

The dormitory is surrounded by a high wall and people were unable to see what happened. Furthermore, the narrow alleys separating all the rooms prevented those living the dormitory from knowing whether their friends had guests. This, people say, were among the reasons that no one in the dormitory knew the murderer had slipped into Yenni's room.

Andhika said the dormitory she lived in was designed in such a way that people downstairs could see if there was a guest visiting a room upstairs.

"People could see if someone walks past my room. And the wall is not high," she said.

For Karima, the murder was a reminder to her and other students to be more careful and always lock their rooms.

"Yes, we heard about the murder. We must not forget to lock our doors," she said.