Sleepless in Jakarta

After having read about sleeping problems in "Your Letters" column dated Oct. 18, 1995, I felt relief. I used to think that I was the only citizen of Jakarta who has a sleeping problem. I lived in Cililitan for 12 years. I remember having always gone to bed accompanied by a choir or a vocal group practicing which went on until close to midnight (most of the people in this neighborhood are talented singers). Regardless of the beautiful songs, I just couldn't help going sleepless since my bedtime was 8.30 p.m. (I was a kid then).

When I was a teenager I moved to grandma's at Cikini. A supposedly nice area, but unfortunately it is located five meters in front of quite a busy main street and railroad tracks. Then a few years later, for a considerable time, the construction of a railway bridge for overhead tracks went on. Luckily, my sleepless childhood experiences in Cililitan helped me get used to 24 hours of Cikini street business. Besides, my bedtime has changed to 11 o'clock.

Another, rather funny, sleepless experience I had was when one day I stayed over at a friend's house, in a considerably nice, convenient area and relatively far from the main road. Yet I found it difficult to sleep beyond 5 a.m. because, from that point on, various vendors of bread, chicken porridge, vegetables, cooking gas, etc. were marching back and forth down the street hawking their goods. I was told that it was the norm of the day.

Have I considered filing a complaint? Not at all! Does my friend want to lodge a complaint? To whom? Those noises all have good reasons for being. If you decide to live in Jakarta and you are against "sleeping pills" or "ear plugs", the best thing to do is to try to adjust yourselves to its atmosphere. For me, I love Jakarta and live with its crooks and crannies.

ULI ARITONANG

Jakarta