The A to Z to quirky Jakarta
The A to Z to quirky Jakarta
Endy M. Bayuni, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Jakarta Inside Out;
By Daniel Ziv;
Equinox Publishing;
Jakarta and Singapore, 2002;
184 pp
One of the things about Jakarta that I still can't figure out is
the logic of motorists driving through a traffic circle. The
convention seems to be that motorists entering the circle take
priority over those already in it. It's a sure recipe for chaos.
During the morning rush hour, traffic around the circles, and
on all roads leading to them, is bound to come to a complete
standstill. If you drive along the main road in Pondok Indah,
South Jakarta, in the morning, you know exactly what I mean.
But then Jakarta is full of such idiosyncrasies. It's a city
that many people -- and I am not only talking about tourists, but
also long-time residents such as myself -- find baffling, if not
mind-boggling.
Those who find the situation in Jakarta impossibly frustrating
give up and leave town. But for some 10 million people, as
chaotic as it may seem, Jakarta is the place they like to call
home, whether by conscious decision or not.
Jakarta is not exactly an easy place to live, but millions of
people have settled in here to live and to work, to build a
career and to start a family. Some struggle just to make ends
meet. Whether they like it or not, they have to live with many of
the quirky aspects of the city.
Everyone has a story to tell about how they cope with the
problems and challenges, but has anyone ever tried to make some
sense out of the chaos that this city has now become?
Daniel Ziv has.
And he has done it eloquently as well as wittily, and with
plenty of humor in Jakarta Inside Out. The book is the author's
collection of short articles describing and explaining, or at
least trying to explain, some of the quirky aspects that make
this vibrant capital tick, even when it seems to many people to
be on the verge of breaking down.
There are 65 articles on a wide range of topics: stories about
the gay community, waria (transsexuals) and typical bule (Western
Caucasian people); about people in odd professions like asongan
(street vendors), U-turn police and umbrella boys; about notable
and less-than-notable landmarks, from Blok M and Glodok, to Jl.
Jaksa and Puncak; about food and drinks like durian, es (ice),
gorengan (fried snack), jamu (herbal medicine) and Krating Daeng
energy beverage; about urban problems like macet (traffic),
floods and slums.
The book talks about the old and recently acquired pastimes of
Jakartans, like the craze for karaoke, the mall culture, golf,
pigeon racing, salon/cream bath; and about distinctive modes of
public transportation, from becak (pedicab), bajaj (motorized
pedicab) and ojek (motorcycle taxi), to the Metromini buses. It
also has sections depicting the darker sides of the city, like
violent street justice and sweatshops.
As the author says in the introduction, Inside Out "is a
snapshot of a 21st century Southeast Asian city bursting at the
seams, but plugging along nonetheless; of ordinary people in
their urban landscape; of culture and pop culture".
Going by the depth of the articles, and the clever way they
are written, Ziv has done his homework. Having lived in Jakarta
since 1998, and having spent a good many of those four years
setting up and then editing djakarta! magazine, he has the right
qualifications to write such an authoritative book.
He did the necessary legwork, or as he describes his research
method, by "hopping buses with street musicians, checking out
bad-ass nightclubs, winding through town on motorbike taxis, and
pounding the pavement in China town".
Such ground-level research paid off handsomely because he has
come up with crucial little details that many long-time residents
are not even aware of. The section on Pigeon Racing (Page 110)
was revealing to me personally. Having little interest in this
pastime, only now I learn that the ultimate winner of the race is
the horniest male pigeon, because the prize for the champion is
the right to mate with the female pigeon.
Each article is accompanied by a carefully selected photos,
which in many instances paints more than a thousand words.
The section on Demo (Page 32) carries a series of photos of
three street demonstrations, taken on different occasions, at
different times and for different causes. Each has the same man
taking part in the protests. That is sufficient to tell us about
a new profession that has come about from the 1998 reform
movement: professional demonstrators for hire. No caption is
needed.
The book also runs eight funny caricatures depicting typical
Jakartans -- a neighborhood local, a political activist, a coffee
house tart, a mall babe, a society lady, a neighborhood thug, a
bar bule, and a lady-boy busker -- by Benny and Mice.
It ends with 10 alternative things to do in Jakarta, and five
wild and crazy ideas for Jakarta's governor, although Governor
Sutiyoso would be crazy not to take up on Ziv's suggestions.
The book is not meant to be an all encompassing story of
Jakarta and its inhabitants. That would require volumes of books.
But more than just a personal account of the author's encounters
with the idiosyncratic, it is a book that provides a glimpse of
the bustling city and the contemporary culture of many of its
people.
While Inside Out is no guide book, it guides you to understand
Jakarta a little better. That understanding, for some people,
could be the difference in deciding whether to stay or leave
town.
Understanding some of the crazy little things we find in
Jakarta could make living here a little bit more bearable. A
light and entertaining book, it makes compelling reading for
visitors and residents alike.