Bandung's Jl. Braga a fading shadow of its former self

By Bruce Emond

BANDUNG (JP): It's lights out by 8 p.m. for most of the businesses along Jl. Braga in the heart of Bandung.

The only doors that remain open until late are at a seafood restaurant and a bar at one end of the street, and a recently opened small hotel and adjoining billiard hall.

It's a far cry from the way things once were. In the 1920s and 1930s, in the final years of Dutch colonialism, Jl. Braga was the boulevard where the city's well-heeled chose to shop. It was only a short walk from the Savoy Homann, the famed art deco hotel on Jl. Asia-Afrika, the alun-alun (city square) and major commercial enterprises.

And its reputation for fine restaurants, bakeries, bookstores and clothes shops continued in the first 30 years of independence.

Sadly, the street is a shadow of its former self today. Some of the buildings are shuttered, others are shielded from curious eyes by metal fronts and there is the scar of a former art gallery gutted by fire last year. Many of the stores and cafes which are open appear neglected, with few visitors stopping in during the course of the business day.

Except for its chronically bad traffic jams, Jl. Braga has been left behind by the times.

A combination of factors, including increased retail competition with shopping centers and malls built in the 1980s and 1990s, seems to be behind the decline in the street's fortunes.

"I've been here since 1962, and the street was still busy through the 1980s," said Asip, who runs a cigarette kiosk. "We started getting fewer visitors in the 1990s, with the opening of Hero and other shops."

Already hurt by the downturn in business, the street's businesses suffered another blow when the devastating economic crisis struck in mid-1997.

"We still had a lot of guests before the economic crisis, but not as many now," said waiter captain Edi Rukhaedi from restaurant Braga Permai, one of the mainstays of the street.

An employee of the restaurant for the past 20 years, Eddy said it was up to the local administration to take the "appropriate action" to rejuvenate the area.

"If it means promoting tempo doeloe then so be it, but how can you expect it to work when businesses are shut so early? We stay open until 8:30 p.m., but I see more and more businesses are closing at 7 p.m., even 6 p.m."

Another store owner, "Arief", said the area was a victim of changing times and tastes.

"The street is too small, there are too many vehicles and the shops hold little interest for most people. It's up to the administration to help out, to invest, but all it thinks about is making money quickly."

He was dismayed by the opening of the hotel, which he termed a "motel".

"The administration talks about retaining the Dutch character of the area, but then it gave permission for the motel to open. The bar was still acceptable because it brings in tourists, but the motel isn't appropriate."

Another problem for the businesses along the street concerns basic infrastructure -- the chronically malfunctioning water supply.

Cooperation with the local water authority to improve the supply was to no avail.

Arief said it was virtually impossible to run a service business when the water "flow" was a trickle or faucets dried up completely.

"How can you be expected to tell tourists that they can't use the bathroom because there is no water supply? If they cannot make sure the water is running during the day, then at least it should run at night."

Efforts

The street, with its historical significance and multifaceted problems, is a natural fit in the activities of the Bandung Society for Heritage Conservation.

In one effort the society, in cooperation with local hotels, organized "Braga Kaget" in 1998 in a bid to drum up tourism to the area. The event, a take on the informal street and sidewalk markets held after payday, was a success the first year, according to Edi and Andi Abubakar from the society.

The subsequent promotions, culminating this year when the event was organized by the local administration, were less well- received. "The problem this year was that there was a lack of information about the event, and it came too late," Edi said.

Andi said the drive to put Jl. Braga back on the tourist map needed the support of the local administration, groups such as the society and the local community itself.

"Ultimately it's a question of what the Braga community wants for its future. We've asked the vendors what they think are their selling points, and most of them answer that it's the culture of the area."

The society has pushed for store owners to remove the metal fronts which were once a major eye-sore in the area, as well as keeping their structures in architectural harmony with those around them. Some of them have complied.

It has also advised the vendors to go all-out in becoming a tourist area by lobbying the local administration to shut off the one-way street to traffic.

Eddy is one of those who disagrees with the proposal.

"Many of our visitors come on tour buses or other forms of transportation, and they'd have to park away from the street and then walk to the businesses. It would make it even more difficult for us."

With much of Jl. Braga changed forever, Andi said it was now a case of doing as much as one could with what remained.

"It would be ludicrous to attempt to come back to the way things were. What we need to do is promote the buildings and characteristics which remain."