More locals choosing to live in apartments

Sudibyo M. Wiradji, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Apartment living is often looked upon as second best to living in one's own house. However, in a city of 10 million people, where traffic jams are a daily inconvenience, apartment living has become a growing trend among young couples, singles and families.

Seven years after moving to an apartment, married couple Dony Irawan and Tara have no regrets.

Dony is relieved that he can avoid the stress of hours spent negotiating the city's traffic. Whether by public transportation or in his own car, the 15-minute journey to his office in Kuningan, South Jakarta is a breeze compared to what he faced before.

"I used to spend hours stuck in traffic in a bad temper. By the time I arrived at work, I was already exhausted," said the 43-year-old Dony, who has two small children.

The couple live in a three-room apartment on the second floor of Eksekutif Menteng Apartments in South Jakarta, which is most convenient for them as Tara works at a popular hotel on nearby Jl. Thamrin.

Dony told The Jakarta Post that he saved both time and energy by living at the Menteng apartments, "I have more time to spend with my family. I can go home and eat lunch with my children, which is a wonderful thing as most children don't see much of their parents during the working week. It is quality time," he said.

He explained that many people just accepted limited spare time as a consequence of living and working in Jakarta. With apartment living, however, he said there was more time to play sport, indulge in a hobby or just relax. He compared the experiences of his friend, who lives in his own house.

"My friend lives in a very nice house with his wife and two small children, yet, he hardly communicates with them. I do believe that he doesn't get to enjoy his house either. Forget sitting on the porch in the evening or playing ball with the children -- he simply doesn't have time. He leaves home early in the morning, long before the children wake up. By the time he comes home, his children are asleep again. That just sounds stressful to me," said Dony.

Security was also one reason why the couple chose to live in an apartment, as well as the convenience of not having to worry about household staff.

Dony said that, before they got married, the two lived in an apartment overseas for several years. They enjoyed the simplicity of their lifestyle so much that when they moved back to Indonesia they decided to buy an apartment. "We have found that living in an apartment is more secure, practical and economical," he said.

With the apartment's tight security system, Dony said, he was not worried about leaving his family to attend an evening or out- of-town event.

Almost all household items are available at the apartment, which is useful in an emergency, and friendly staff are on standby at all hours of the day and night to help out, should something go wrong.

"For example, if we are cooking for a dinner party and the gas runs out we just call the front office and, a few minutes later, someone will bring us more gas," he said.

The apartment also has a swimming pool, gymnasium, tennis court, Jacuzzi, children's playground and Internet access.

Even though residents pay a monthly service charge, the facilities are well worth paying for, Dony said.

At Eksekutif Menteng Apartment, residents pay a monthly service charge of Rp 14,000 (about US$1.5) per square meter. "We pay around Rp 200,000 per month," Dony said.

The charge covers security, cleaning and maintenance. It excludes electricity, water and phone bills.

With the service charge, "we don't have to be bother with gardening or fixing any damage to the apartment, which makes life easier", he said.

Another young couple, Rizal Mallarangeng and Dewi Cakrawati, enjoy living at Apartment Taman Rasuna in Kuningan, South Jakarta.

Dewi, who lived in the U.S. for nine years before getting married, owns two apartments on the 14th and 25th floors.

Rizal's office is close by, as well as their children's school, which means that they too have more time to spend together, as a family.

Anne, another resident, has been living in an apartment on the 21st floor of the tower since 1999.

"When I first bought the apartment, the price was low and few Indonesians lived there. Times have certainly changed," she said.

"Living in an apartment cuts monthly spending by some 40 percent -- compared to living in a house with a garden," said Anne.

She said that her monthly bills amounted to around Rp 2 million, including a Rp 500,000 service charge, Rp 450,000 for electricity, Rp 140,000 for water, and Rp 600,00 for telephone and cable television bills.

Anne said that she had to allocate extra money for security, garbage collection and cleaning services when she lived in a house with a spacious garden. Also, she had to pay the bills herself. To be frank, she said, the services were less-than- reliable. At one time she had to endure the stench of mounting garbage as it wasn't collected for over two weeks.

"We lived in a house at Blok S in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta. But, our house was burgled, including our electronic goods. The traumatic experience prompted us to live in an apartment," she said, adding that she now felt secure, even when her husband was away on business.

Even though most tenants of apartments are expatriates, the number of locals living in apartments has increased from year to year. Living in an apartment, for Indonesian couples, has become a lifestyle in itself.

"In 1997, only a few Indonesians lived in our apartment building, but now we (Indonesians) comprise around 160 of the total 250 tenants," Arif Yuda, tenant relations officer and manager of Kedoya Elok, told the Post.

Initially, the decision of many residents and expats to live in an apartment building, rather than a house, was attributed to fear caused by mass rioting in 1998.

However, as the security situation has returned to normal, other reasons, such as comfort and convenience, have influenced Jakartans to buy an apartment, he said.