Restaurants in Kemang

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