New vehicle steal old charm from Jakarta's transportation
New vehicle steal old charm from Jakarta's transportation
Saya mau tamasya; berkeliling-keliling kota; hendak melihat-lihat keramaian yang ada; Saya panggilkan becak; kereta tak berkuda; Becak...becak; Coba bawa saya (I want to travel; around the downtown; to see the gatherings there; I call the becak; the horseless carriage; Becak, becak; Please take me around) -- Children's song by Ibu Sud
JAKARTA (JP): This children's song entitled Becak (Pedicab) was written as an affectionate portrayal of the once simple and efficient transportation system in the city.
Children today don't share the affection their parents or grandparents felt towards the various means of transportation. The number of children songs praising the "old" means of transportation is a testimony to their charm.
There were songs about the delman (a horse cart), the trem (trams), the oplet (a twelve-seat vehicle) and the becak, the major form of transportation in Jakarta for decades.
Today's song writers have tried to compose similar songs but have failed to come up with anything enchanting. This reflects, in part, the current condition of public transportation in the city.
Jakarta's transportation may now be more sophisticated (at least motorized), but it has no charm. Everyone instead finds it boring, hateful, hostile and scary.
Tutang, 67, who fought in the war for independence, says, "Transportation in Jakarta in the fifties was much better organized than today." This pinpoints why it has lost its charm.
People obeyed traffic regulations back then, he assured. The police did their job properly and drivers and pedestrians alike strictly followed the laws.
A special license was required for every means of transportation, including the sado, the kahar (two types for horse carts) and the stoom vales (Dutch for steam roller).
"I believe we were all polite on the streets. It was very difficult to obtain a driver's license. You had to pass various tests. No one could buy a license," Tutang said, before going on to recall how public transportation vehicles stopped at fixed places.
Things have changed drastically. Drivers stop anywhere to take in or let out passengers and anyone can get a license.
The number of passengers was also limited back then. The oplet, mostly built by Austin or Morris, carried no more than seven.
Today, a mikrolet, which has replaced the oplet, frequently surpasses its 12-seat capacity by three or more passengers. During peak hours, some passengers are even willing to hang out the door.
However, not everything was perfect in the old days. Trams, commented Tutang, were less safe than an oplet. "My Parker pen was once stolen by a pickpocket when I took a tram from Pasar Ikan to Pasar Baru," he recalled.
Changed
Transportation in the old days was, according Tutang's generation, was orderly, convenient, secure and safe. The drivers were also disciplined.
Sadly, transportation in Jakarta has lost these laudable qualities. As the capital became more and more crowded, various means of getting around were, for some reason, banned.
Daredevil races between bus drivers desperate to make a living and rampant theft are the order of the day. Public transportation has now become a nightmare.
Steam and electric trams, which were introduced in Jakarta in 1881 and 1897 respectively, crisscrossed the capital until the 1960s. Horse-carts diminished one by one, under 100 delman have survived. About 50 are based at the Ulujami marketplace and another 30 at the Palmerah marketplace, both markets are in South Jakarta. Their few customers are tourists and people seeking to re-live the past.
"Times have changed. The delman was like today's BMW, they were owned only by rich people. Now, we are among the poor, and are blamed for messing the streets with horse manure," says Marsali, 25, a delman chauffeur who inherited the job from his father and grandfather.
The becak had a more tragic end. Introduced to Jakarta in the first half of the century by Chinese traders, the becak quickly won the public's heart as the most practical form of transportation along the narrow alleys of housing complexes. It was among the cheapest ways for the poor to eke out a living. Traffic experts and city officials blamed them for traffic congestion and the Jakarta administration completely banned them in 1991.
Hundreds of thousands of becaks were dumped into Jakarta Bay to become a haven for fish.
The vacuum, particularly in residential areas, was partially filled by the bemo. This three-wheeled vehicle was introduced in 1962 and had freely roamed the main streets before the becak ban. However, the bemo couldn't cope with the demand and that lead to the ojek (motorcycle taxi) to hit the streets and pavements.
Now it is said that the ojek and the bemo are to be phased out and replaced by minivans.
"I don't understand why the government wants to ban the bemo. No one gets robbed on them. Besides, this is a real form of PATAS (limited passengers) transport. We never take in more than seven," said Ujang Juanda, 43, a bemo owner.
As Jakarta develops into a metropolitan city, the memory of horse drawn carts and pedicabs will fade. People once believed in the proverb "slow but sure", but now Jakartans are much more restless.
What is important to the majority of Jakartans is time and speed. City planners are now working on a plan to build either an underground or monorail system to provide Jakartans with efficient mass transportation.
But a question remains. How can we recover the former charms of Jakarta's transportation network -- convenience, discipline, order and security? (jsk/als)