Improving Jakarta's museums

The number of visitors to Jakarta's museums markedly increased last year, going beyond earlier estimates. The same was true of revenue from museum ticket sales. Based on a report of the Jakarta museum office, ticket receipts from visitors reached Rp 103 million in 2001, far exceeding the projected Rp 65 million mark.

Some museums were favorites, while others received scant interest. The National Museum, one of the city's landmarks, was most frequented, with 573,332 people recorded last year or 44,000 a month on average. The Textile Museum, in one of Jakarta's hectic commercial centers -- Tanah Abang -- was visited by only 300 people each month.

This progress is gratifying because museums and relevant state agencies have made inadequate efforts to renovate the buildings and improve their facilities due to limited funds.

On the other hand, local museums should be able to implement developments based on their own resources, particularly in view of the high income earned by the same institutions abroad.

The greatest source of museum revenue in the capital has come from student visits. However, in terms of the number of students at elementary, secondary and high schools in Jakarta, the total number of visitors remains small.

It becomes necessary to create the awareness that visiting museums means familiarizing oneself with the identity of a nation or community with all its works of the past and present. It is not like going to a mall or recreation center.

We are looking forward to the time when people are ready to queue up for hours before they can enter such museums as The Louvre and Guggenheim in Europe. It may be just a dream, but we need not be disheartened because many successes come after trivial dreams.

-- Warta Kota, Jakarta