RI a champion in celebrating soccer fiesta

Christina Schott, Contributor, Jakarta

Jakarta without traffic jams is suddenly a reality, something city planners have been trying to accomplish for years.

It is rush hour and you can race down Jl. Jendral Sudirman, free of the usual start-stop nightmare.

That's if you are lucky enough to find a taxi, which have suddenly become a rarity. Is it because of a fear of new bomb attacks? An impending oil crisis?

Far from it: It is 6:30 p.m. and that means World Cup time.

Coming from the soccer-crazed nation Germany, there was the big hope of escaping World Cup mania in a country that doesn't even have a team at the competition.

What a naive idea! Indonesians are not only crazy about soccer, they are stark raving bonkers.

It started with my roommates. I have known them for three years, but I've never noticed before that they were particularly interested in soccer. I caught them perched on the rooftop, installing a new antenna for better reception of RCTI, the sole broadcaster of the Cup.

And this new model of orange-silver antenna has sprouted on houses all over Jakarta.

Another friend even bought a giant new TV. Installed in front of their house, their terrace became a kind of open arena to everybody who wanted to drop by to watch soccer.

OK, Indonesians really love soccer, no breaking news here. There is this housekeeper who used to set his alarm clock to get up in the wee hours of the night, just to watch the broadcast of English, German or Italian league games live from Europe.

Even those who do not usually enjoy the game are suddenly caught up in the drama, theater and colorful personalities of the World Cup.

"This is not just soccer, this is the World Cup," is the simple and only explanation for the enthusiasm.

There is a technician who knows every name of every soccer player participating in the last 10 World Cups, like those teams vying for cash prizes on the TV soccer knowledge shows. There are taxi drivers who can immediately spout the names of the team members of their foreign passengers.

For all of these guys, of course, the World Cup is a state of emergency.

But, what about the usually stiff civil servants or fashion conscious pretty young things who park themselves in front of huge TV-screens in shopping malls or overcrowded cafes, hopping up and down and producing shrill screeches when some nearly famous player from Senegal or Ecuador scores.

For the young women, I found a visual explanation during the game between England and Argentina at the totally packed BC-Cafe in Sarinah.

Almost everybody at this British Council-sponsored event was supporting the English team, but suddenly some dressed-up girls started extolling the virtues of the good looking Argentinean players with cries like, "Look at that Gonzales, he is so sweet".

Other, more serious soccer fans expressed their fascination in a rather sporting way.

"This competition shows that the teams from Asia and Africa are becoming stronger and stronger", says Eko, an import-export- trader from South Jakarta. "The success of Korea and Japan gives me the hope that one day Indonesia will also be able to participate at the World Cup."

For everybody else, there is one most possible answer for their motivation: Betting on the games. All day long, with their office colleagues, their friends at home, with other passers-by at any TV-equipped kiosk, they make a betting pool to guess who will come out on top.

It's something of a miracle that the Indonesian economy has not completely broken down since the World Cup started two weeks ago. The situation surrounding the broadcasting of the games reminds one of a general strike blocking any productivity in the whole country.

Better not go to government offices, photo shops or travel agents after the whistle starts for the game, because it might be possible that you have to wait for the final whistle to get served.

But you can really savor the moment at the supermarket -- there won't be the usual long queues at the cashier. Still, you will have to serve yourself because the best warung (street cafe) in the area has been closed down for the past two weeks.

For Western soccer fans who expect to find a different atmosphere at the cultural centers such as the French Cultural Center, Germany's Goethe Institute or the Italian Cultural Institute, will experience another surprise.

During the game between Germany and Ireland, the few German watchers at the Goethe Institute were squeezed in the middle of a huge Indonesian crowd, celebrating the goal for Ireland with the same enthusiasm as the one for Germany before.

And at the Italian Institute, the mainly Indonesian guests started explaining the Italian team's strategy to the cultural assistant from Italy, who obviously felt overtaxed by this knowledge.

Then again, it is hard to resist the cheerful Indonesian soccer mania. The trend to support the underdog teams is a sympathetic characteristic of a people who are not giving up hope that, one day, they will get to cheer for their own team.

And, honestly, who prefers staying home alone when you get to take part in a national party with everybody invited?