Restaurants in Kemang

Once again The Jakarta Post wrote and published a good editorial, this time on "Fashionable Kemang" and the fact that a recently still rather dull residential area of Jakarta is filled with life now and able to cater to the needs of residents and visitors as well.

Having lived in Jakarta long enough to still remember that only four years ago one, apart from two establishments in Kemang, had no chance to have a beer with friends of colleagues, let alone eat something decent, without having to travel all the way into the city, the present development in Kemang appears to be much more favorable at least for people living in the south.

The reason why the residential places have been converted into restaurants these days has probably also something to do with the fact that the houses could not be rented out again after their tenants left as Jl. Kemang Raya and Jl. Bangka are pretty busy roads and thus, given the nature of Indonesian buses and gasoline, heavily polluted apart from being quite noisy. So what's wrong with making use of an empty house to the benefit of the community?

I cannot share the view that green areas have been converted into parking lots as these are pitifully small if there are any at all with everyone parking in streets. Nor have I seen any drunks staggering around the area, there are much worse areas in Jakarta in that respect. Also nobody ever complained about an increase in the crime rate, at least not in the many discussions I had with friends about these positive developments.

So what's the big issue? Could it be that some people want to use this discussion to bolster their income? Hard to imagine -- not here!

ROLAND WOEHRLE

Jakarta