Jaksa Fair provides kampong atmosphere
By Yoko N. Sari
JAKARTA (JP): The sound of children playing on Jl. Jaksa in Central Jakarta combined with the sound of traditional Betawi music created a chaotic but cheerful kampong atmosphere along the 400-meter street.
Hundreds of children, teenagers and adults came to the street, famous for its backpacking tourists, to enjoy Betawi culture and cuisine.
A pair of ondel-ondel, Betawi's traditional giant puppets, danced at the end of Jl. Jaksa while children tried to touch their scary bodies, which moved quite lightly despite the 20 kg. costumes.
"The puppets used to be called babarongan until noted Betawi singer Benyamin S. popularized the term ondel-ondel in his song," said Yasin, head of Beringin Sakti ondel-ondel group.
Ondel-ondel constitute one of Betawi traditional arts presented at the four-day Jalan Jaksa Fair, which was opened by Governor Surjadi Soedirdja on Thursday evening.
The Betawi atmosphere has changed Jl. Jaksa into some kind of party where people from every walk of life, including, ambassadors, actors and curious onlookers, mingled in the street to enjoy the first night of the fiesta.
The second annual Jaksa Fair, open from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m on Sunday, is organized by the City Tourism Office, Etnodata and the Betawi cultural council.
The fiesta puts emphasis on the performance of Betawi arts, including keroncong (popular Indonesian music originating from Portuguese songs) and lenong (folk) theater, and Betawi cuisine.
Besides designing this year's Jaksa Fair to celebrate Indonesia's golden anniversary of independence, the organizer also hopes to improve the image of the street.
"Hopefully this event will change the people's perception that the street is full negative activities," said Evayanthi Rozak, the fair's chairperson.
In his opening remarks, Governor Surjadi Soedirdja praised the initiative to hold the party.
"Jl. Jaksa is the most famous street in the city among foreigners and it needs to be enriched with culture and a clean environment," Surjadi said.
He also said that the street is one of the city's assets which should be preserved.
Head of the City Tourist Agency Fauzi Bowo said that annually about 45,000 tourists stay at motels and hostels along Jl. Jaksa, with 30,000 coming from Europe, 10,000 from Australia and 5,000 from the United States.
Currently, there are 28 motels and hostels along the street with room prices ranging from Rp 7,500 (US$3.40) to Rp 20,000 per day as well as 10 restaurants, 21 souvenir shops and nine travel agents.
Jaksa Fair has also attracted local tourists and expatriates who work in the city.
"We intend to watch the fair because we do not know as much about Betawi culture as we do of Bali and Java," said Sato Kenjiro, a 21-year-old Japanese girl.
"We just wanted to watch Benyamin S., but unfortunately he did not sing tonight," said Mrs. Onah from Depok, who used to live on Jl. Jaksa.
There are about 90 kiosks erected along the street selling accessories and clothes as well as a wide variety of foods.
Beside traditional goods, visitors can also see a giant Coca- Cola balloon on the sidewalk, people impersonating statues and can help themselves to some good old American-style pizza.