Ice skating glides into Jakarta's teen mall culture

By Monika Winarto

JAKARTA (JP): For urban teenagers like Patricia, ice skating has become a pastime similar to going to the movies or shopping. And it is now recognized as a teenage trend and part of the mall culture.

"I like going to the mall to ice skate for recreation," 16- year-old Patricia said.

For Jakartans, ice skating and the mall are inseparable.

Three ice skating rinks in the city are located in shopping malls, namely Taman Anggrek Mall, in West Jakarta, Mega Mall, in Pluit, North Jakarta and Gajah Mada Plaza, in Central Jakarta.

"My friends and I go there for the thrills and fun," Patricia explains. "It's also about socializing."

She used to ice skate a lot more when her school classes were in the afternoon. She would spend her mornings at the rink because it was off-peak so the admission price was lower.

But now that she has morning classes, she only goes skating after her exams are completed.

"After the exams, we go to Taman Anggrek to ice skate. Half of my class is there ... that's about 20 people. There are also many students from other classes who ice skate," she said.

About 2,000 to 2,500 people go to Taman Anggrek Mall on the weekends or public holidays to ice skate. The mall's rink can hold up to 500 people at one time.

Both Taman Anggrek Mall and Mega Mall say 70 percent of their visitors are teenagers.

"In 1997 our target market was specifically teenagers," Paul, the operational manager of the Taman Anggrek Mall ice rink, said.

In the two years the Taman Anggrek rink has been operational, it has run events for teenagers, such as fashion shows, ice shows and an international sporting competition.

"This year we will have karaoke on ice, ladies and gents nights and the much awaited Valentine show," he said.

The Super Ice and Cafe ice venue in Gajah Mada Plaza, which opened earlier this month, will also host a Valentine's Day event.

"We are targeting teenagers at the junior high school level (12 years to 15 years) but we were surprised to see so many elementary school children coming to our opening day," Yulie Choo, the marketing manager, said.

Yulie said that university students who already knew how to skate might prefer to eat at the venue's cafe.

The rink apparently attracts beginners, such as elementary school children, as the ice is made synthetically and reportedly easier to skate on.

However, Andre, an 11-year-old beginner at Mega Mall's Ice Skating Castle, said he preferred to skate on real ice.

"I've heard that skating on synthetic ice is like roller- blading, that's boring ... I am used to the ice being slippery and it's an exciting feeling to go faster."

Erik and his cousin Max, both nine years old, said they do not mind getting wet when they fall over on the ice.

"When we fall it's wet and cold but its much better than being hot and sweaty outside."

At all three skating venues there are always about four rink supervisors to assist skaters in case they fall over and a first aid room is also provided.

But ice skating is not for everybody.

"Two of my beginner friends can only stand two hours of skating because of the cold," Citra, a student of the School of Medicine at University of Indonesia.

Citra, who lived and skated in the U.S. when she was at high school, said she does not ice skate very much these days.

"Even though it is believed that university students are regular customers, my friends and I only come during the holidays due to our study load," she said.

Both the Taman Anggrek Mall and Mega Mall, which started operating in 1996, are licensed by the American International Ice Skating Sports Institute.

"American trainers trained our coaches," Heru, the manager at Mega Mall's ice skating rink, said.

While not many foreigners ice skate at Mega Mall, 20 percent of the Taman Anggrek rink's patrons are from other countries.

"The students from JIS (Jakarta International School) have formed their own clubs here," Paul said.

All three ice skating venues in Jakarta plan to lobby city high schools to introduce ice skating as an extracurricular activity.

They offer private lessons with rates varying from Rp 35,000 for a weekly, half-hour lesson at Mega Mall to Rp 50,000 at Taman Anggrek.

For five lessons, the Mega Mall rink charges Rp 60,000 while Taman Anggrek charges Rp 200,000 on weekdays and Rp 250,000 over the weekend. Mega Mall also offers a month's worth of lessons for Rp 280,000.

Entrance fees also vary. At Taman Anggrek Mall it costs Rp 6,000 for the first hour and Rp 2,000 for the following hour including skate hire but on weekends and public holidays it costs Rp 7,500 for the first hour and Rp 2,000 for the next hour.

Mega Mall is more expensive at Rp 12,500 for two hours including skate hire and an hourly charge on weekends of Rp 4,000.

Taman Anggrek Mall is offering a 40 percent discount for groups (of at least 30 people) and from Monday to Thursday skaters pay only Rp 6,000 for the whole day if they come before midday.

"The more competition there is the better it is for business, plus it improves the skating standard of young Indonesians," Paul said.