Floral festival an oasis in town
JAKARTA (JP): Banteng Square in Central Jakarta looks different these days. Beautiful flowers of various colors welcome visitors as they approach the main gate.
Walking along the aisles, you can see hundreds of well- arranged plants around many stands set up for this annual flora and fauna event.
The festival, called Flona Jakarta 2001, was officially launched by Governor Sutiyoso on Friday and will last until Aug. 20.
As you enjoy the beauty of the flowers, you can occasionally hear the crow of roosters and the sound of a water fountain.
Rare plants are also found here. A kiosk situated in the middle of the square sells fruit plants such as kepel (Stelechocarpus burahol) normally found in Java's royal palaces and matoa from Irian Jaya (Pometia pinnata).
You can also check out the stand that belongs to a poultry farm, which offers various kinds of chicken. Surprisingly, some of them do not even look like chickens, they look like cockatoos, while some others have feathers with unique patterns that might even remind you of batik.
Other displays, which have attracted a large number of visitors, are those ones belonging to Ragunan Zoo. The yellow snake (Phyton molurus), shown off in a terrarium, has become a great center of interest. On Saturday, visitors watched with great interest the five-meter-long reptile, which seemed sleepy after eating two chickens.
The festival was first held by the city administration in 1984. It was meant to be an annual program, but the government failed to conduct the event in 1998 and 1999 due to the economic crisis.
This year's festival is the 15th to be held in the square.
"The current festival is also aimed at improving public awareness of the environment," Supangat Djojosantoso, chairman of the organizing committee, told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
More than 200 plant sellers and collectors have joined the festival, in addition to 90 others who sell birds, poultry products, food and garden equipment.
Jakartans dominate the event. The only participants from outside the capital are from Bali.
The prices of the plants vary, ranging from Rp 2,500 to Rp 700,000. Your skill at bargaining plays an important role here.
Chickens and other types of birds are available from Rp 25,000 to millions of rupiah. The most expensive is a small turtledove (Geopelia striata).
There are also many interesting events at the festival, such as seminars on herbal medicine and short courses on flower- arranging.
A seminar was held on Saturday by the Association of Indonesian Herbal Medicine Companies. Over 50 people, mostly elderly, attended the seminar, which presented various kinds of herbal medicine and their benefits for human health.
Jopie Senduk, a participant, said that he attended the seminar to broaden his horizons. He believed herbal medicine could be used to cure various diseases, including cancer and diabetes.
A similar seminar will take place next Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Those who want to join the seminar will be charged Rp 50,000.
A few foreigners were also spotted among the visitors.
Jonathan Simon, who comes from North America, said that as a plant collector, he had visited the festival twice.
"The previous festival attracted more participants than the current one," he remarked.
He added that what was featured in the current festival was more or less the same as those in previous years.
"I think such a festival should be held more often," he said, "It is like an oasis in the desert".
It is indeed quite refreshing to enjoy, even just for a while, the natural beauty on offer in this hot and heavily polluted city. (04)