Give Kemang some credit

Give Kemang some credit

When, some time ago, the first article taken from another
newspaper appeared in the Jakarta Post with the writer suggesting
that Kemang had turned into an area of sinful activities, I was
tempted to write a reply. But I discarded the idea as I thought
the whole thing too ridiculous to merit further comment.

Now another writer, from another paper, has published the
story in Bahasa Indonesia and thus it is available to a much
wider readership.

The story suggested again that Kemang was crawling with
prostitutes and that all good Moslems should take care of that
development, which, in my opinion, is already much more dangerous
considering how quickly tempers and moods can flare up in this
country, no matter whether allegations are right or wrong.

We have been living in this area of Kemang for more than five
years and, it is true, a lot has changed. There are a number of
bars and restaurants that were not here two or three years ago
and they are mostly limited to Kemang Raya and Ampera Raya with
only two establishments at the end of Jl. Bangka that should not
disturb anyone, apart from the traffic maybe.

We feel that the way Kemang has developed is a big improvement
as it caters to the needs of a large population living in the
south and not only expatriates, as is erroneously suggested.

The majority of the places are packed with Indonesians and I
must honestly say that I never have the feeling that there are
any prostitutes on the prowl, as is the case in some of the
bigger hotels where one had to drive to in the past to get a beer
or decent food. Or, even worse, we were forced to drive further
north, west or east of the city to find good food and drinks.

Maybe the authors of the previous two letters think that any
place with a neon sign is an establishment engaging in sinful
activities and each girl or group of girls visiting these places
must be from the horizontal trade and not what they are nowadays,
namely emancipated young working people who want to have a good
time without any "bad" intentions in mind.

Maybe the people who are against Kemang as a place where one
can dine or listen to some music in the company of friends of
business associates should also consider that not only the city
traffic -- which is already bad enough -- will not be as dense
any more because people are not forced to drive into town but can
just stay down south.

Last, but not least, one should not forget that approximately
3,000 young people have found jobs in these restaurants and bars,
which perhaps gives them a chance for a better future, allows
them to support family members, further education, etc. instead
of being unemployed.

Maybe it would not be such a bad idea to try some tolerance
for a change and not to have everything only in one particular
way.

ROLAND WOEHRLE

Jakarta