Independence celebrations more muted in elite areas

Independence celebrations more muted in elite areas

Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The neighborhood looks deserted, with just a few cars passing a
street that has red-and-white flags flapping in the wind in front
of houses in Menteng, Central Jakarta.

Residential Menteng is one of the city's upper-class areas
where the houses date back to the Dutch colonial era.

A similar sight is seen in the upmarket Pondok Indah housing
complex in South Jakarta.

There are no lines of small flags crisscrossing the streets
like there are in the city's densely populated kampongs, but it
does not mean that affluent people do not observe Independence
Day.

"All we can do is hoist the red-and-white flag in front of our
houses as well as at strategic places in our neighborhood.

"Most residents here are old people and pensioners. There are
not many young people here," Haryanto, a community unit (RW) head
in the district, told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

Haryanto's neighborhood is a prominent one as President
Megawati and former president Soeharto Soekarnoputri both live
nearby.

He also said his neighborhood did not collect donations from
residents for celebrations.

One local resident, Tashya, who lives on Jl. Sumbawa, Menteng,
said her neighborhood had not organized any events to celebrate
the occasion this year as many residents were out of town.

"My neighborhood organized many events in past years, but not
this year," she said.

"As for myself, I really don't miss the festivities because I
seldom took an active part in them. I just loved to watch the
crowd."

Meanwhile, a RW spokeswoman on Jl. Alam Asri in Pondok Indah
said her neighborhood had decided to stage festivities after
several years of not doing so due to security reasons, especially
since the economic crisis.

"In the past several years we have only distributed staple
foods to local security guards and cleaners," said Ibu Edi
Arifin.

"But we decided to celebrate this year."

"We are not setting a specific amount to be donated for the
celebration; it's totally up to the residents themselves. Many of
them also give other things such as cakes," she added.

Many expatriates also live in Pondok Indah, such as in
Apartment Golf Pondok Indah.

"We don't stage an Independence Day celebration for our
tenants as most of them are expatriates," said a marketing staff
member cautiously.

"But we have organized an internal celebration for the
employees."

In a separate development, city spokesman Muhayat said it was
possible that Governor Sutiyoso would not hold a celebration
especially designed for foreign diplomats, which he did in the
past two years.

"I haven't got the details yet because the celebration is
usually handled by an event organizer," he said. "We only provide
technical assistance."

Sutiyoso normally holds an Independence Day event at Taman
Surapati in Menteng, just across from his official residence.

The diplomats watch cracker-eating contests, as well as tugs-
of-war and sack races, which are traditionally staged on
Independence Day.