Jakarta tour a stroll down memory lane
Jakarta tour a stroll down memory lane
Primastuti Handayani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
"Group four, please gather here!" shouted our guide Alie.
About 30 people clustered together in a group on Jl. Veteran,
Central Jakarta, on a recent morning as Alie ordered us to smile
for a photographer.
Alie was one of seven guides for about 200 participants in the
Plezieran Tempo Doeloe naar Weltevreden program, a walking tour
of old sites in the center of the city.
Organized by Sahabat Museum (Friends of Museums), the initial
program was to visit old buildings in the area known as
Weltevreden during the Dutch colonial period, encompassing
Gambir, Banteng Square and Pasar Baru.
To our surprise, each group of participants received a roti
buaya (crocodile bread) just like in the song Picnic by Naif. My
five-year-old son -- who was finally persuaded to come along
after we told him he would get free ice cream from Ragusa Es
Italia -- was even happier when he was given the bread.
From the starting point in front of Ragusa on Jl. Veteran no.
10 -- formerly known as Citadelweg -- we walked to Istiqlal
Mosque, which used to be the site of Wilhelmina Park, passing the
Koningsplein, now the National Monument.
The Koningsplein was the venue for the Jakarta Fair and Pasar
Gambir, a night market held in conjunction with the annual fair.
Ragusa owner Buntoro Kurniawan remembered that his
establishment opened a counter at Pasar Gambir beginning in 1932.
"We would only do business once a year during the Jakarta Fair
for the whole month," he said.
"The unique thing about Ragusa was that there were telephones
at several tables with numbers. People could communicate with
others via telephone from the counter.
"It was very useful for guys who had a crush on girls who
visited our counter," he added, laughing.
Alie informed us that Gambir was named after a Frenchman
called Van Gambir, something new to most of us.
We continued our journey to Banteng square, once called
Waterlooplein or Parade Plaats (plaza).
"The name Waterlooplein was given to commemorate the defeat of
the French at Waterloo. Therefore, the Dutch government built a
small lion statue to mock the French," Alie said.
"Since the square hosted parades every Sunday, it was named
Parade Plaats."
Banteng today is home to the West Irian Freedom statue,
showing a man breaking free of chains.
It was then off to the Ministry of Finance building, which had
been the palace of Daendels, a governor general of the Dutch
government. It has been modernized, but there is still something
spooky about it.
Next to the palace is the Supreme Court, once the justice
department. Although I am a longtime Jakarta resident, this was
news to me (where have I been all these years?)
As I bemoaned my poor history knowledge, we headed to the
Kimia Farma building, once the Vritmetselaar.
A security guard told us that we should have visited the Budi
Utomo school next door.
"It used to be the prison for political detainees. Many died
there," he muttered ominously.
OK, enough of the macabre.
It was getting hotter, so we made a quick visit to
Stadsshcouwburg, now Gedung Kesenian Jakarta, Passer Baroe (Pasar
Baru), Kantoor Post Telegraaf en Telefoon which now serves as the
Philately Museum and then returned to Jl. Veteran.
The tour, at a cost of Rp 20,000 (US$2.5), took about two
hours. It is not too taxing on adults, but it might be far for
young children (some of the latter in our group asked their
parents to carry them).
It's also hard to hear the guides, as they do not use a
megaphone, and several of us jostled for position closer to Alie.
It's advisable to wear comfortable sneakers, a T-shirt with
shorts or jeans, and put on plenty of sunblock.
Credit must be given to Sahabat Museum, not only for the free
ice cream (a real highlight of the tour), but for opening our
eyes to the history of our city.
Next on Sahabat's agenda is a visit to Sunda Kelapa area in
North Jakarta by the end of June. Those who are interested in
taking part should contact sahabatmuseum@yahoo.com.