Jl. Antara, forlorn reminder of old Batavia

By Ida Indawati Khouw

If you open any books on the Jakarta of old and the one of today, a site which will appear in the pages of both and still keeps a feeling of yesterday is the area along Jl. Antara in Sawah Besar, Central Jakarta. The sad news is that some of the old buildings have been poorly neglected. This is the fourth article in a planned series about Jakarta's historical buildings in the Saturday editions of The Jakarta Post.

JAKARTA (JP): Early this week at about midday, a half-naked man was sound asleep on a heap of cartons in front of an old building's entrance on the 500-meter avenue of Jl. Antara.

It seemed that nobody or nothing could interrupt his nap, including the noisy street traffic passing him along the street.

The empty building with plywood walls and painted surfaces severely cracked from age did not disturb him as a resting place.

A few blocks away, three old buildings with ornamented pillars and tiny railings at the top adds nuance to its contrasting broken windows and peeling ceilings.

Upon entering one of the buildings, one is greeted with the echoing sounds of his/her own footsteps and the tick-tock of the old fans on the ceiling.

Welcome to Jl. Antara, home of eight buildings, including the former offices of Domei Japanese news agency, which have all been protected under a gubernatorial decree as city properties but are severely lacking in proper maintenance.

Located in the vicinity of the hustle and bustle of Pasar Baru shopping area, most of the buildings -- particularly numbers 25, 27, 29, 51, 53 and 55 on the street -- were designed with European architecture and built in 1906. They have been used for years as shops and offices.

The former Domei offices, numbers 57 and 58 on Jl. Antara, are built in Corinthian style and were taken over by the Indonesian government following independence. They now become the office and photo gallery of state news agency Antara.

But the buildings have been neglected for years, and many have fallen to ruin one by one, leaving a horrible impression with all passersby.

One of the three adjoining buildings is rented by a law firm. No one would suspect that he or she is in someone's office as the only piece of furniture in the dimly lit reception is a broken dusty sofa.

The scene becomes more frightful if the wind shakes the windows and door hinges creak in protest.

Occupants and owners of the buildings acknowledged they had no idea the premises were protected.

"We just rent the office. So we didn't know whether the place was protected or not," said Teguh, an employee of Rio Samantha, Novian and Associates law firm office.

Husin P., a tenant who runs Hobie Karya printing business and stationery shop next to the law firm, echoed the same comment.

"We never receive any notices from parties prohibiting us from renovating my property," said the man, who was in his 60s and had let his gray beard become long.

Husin, who has rented the building since 1948 from someone living in Sukabumi, West Java, also did not know that he could be taken to court for damaging the building's marble floors. A heavy printing machine had dropped on the floor one day.

He also didn't know he could be charged for destroying a long blue relief of fish surrounding the lower part of the wall, which he said happened after he was hammering the wall for some reason.

But Jl. Antara is still dubbed one of the few sites in the capital where a group of antique buildings still exist.

Archeologist Candrian Attahiyat said the area used to be a prominent business district in the area during the Dutch colonial era.

"People called it Weltevreden," he said.

But people conducting business activities can no longer be seen along the street.

Nowadays, the street is clogged with sidewalk vendors and parked cars of shoppers visiting the Pasar Baru complex.

No one, including the experts, know the exact function each remaining structure had in the past.

Husin speculated his building was once used as a Dutch coffee house called Steyr as inscribed on a decorated lamp on the top floor of the building.

He wasn't sure, however, because there is a small plaque on the wall of the building which was inscribed saying it was a branch of an information office.

The inscription reads: Informatiebureau De Hermandad, Batoetoelis No. 26 Bijkantoor Priok... Dir: J.F.J. Wanders.

Chairman of the city restoration team, Wisnu Murti Ardjo, said the street was once a business district which was developed following the success story of neighboring Pasar Baru shopping complex in the early 20th century.

Observer Rahim Bekend said the Ciliwung river, located parallel to the front of the street, was once used by local people for laundry.

At the time, the water was of course still clean and unpolluted, he added.

"Several local people did their laundry business there. They got their orders from wealthy families, especially Dutch and Chinese. Some household helpers also washed the apparel of their employers there," Bekend explained.

The street is famous because of two separate Antara news agency buildings, which were used to spread the news to the world of Indonesia's Proclamation of Independence on Aug. 17, 1945.

The street was previously called Postweg Noord (post office's northern street), named after its position beside a nearby post office.

The name was then changed to Jl. Pos Utara before finally being named after the historic Antara building.