The joy of shopping amid busy sessions

JAKARTA (JP): What is Jakarta's newest shopping spot? Surprisingly, the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) building, where one can indulge in a bit of window shopping during breaks in the lengthy deliberations of the General Session.

Check out the lobby of the MPR building and get ready to spend some of your hard-earned cash!

Dozens of makeshift stands have been set up to serve legislatures attending the General Session from Oct. 14 to Oct. 21. The stands can be seen lining the lobby of the Nusantara building -- the rear part of the MPR's main building.

An official at the Assembly secretariat said he did not know why the traders were allowed to open their kiosks days after the session began.

"Maybe because earlier the MPR Secretariat planned the session for two phases, and we predicted that there would be more visitors coming for the second phase. With the modified schedule, we also moved forward the opening of this gallery of stands here," Eddie Siregar, the head of the Assembly's public information office, said.

Previously, the first phase of the session was scheduled for Oct. 1 to Oct. 3, and the second phase for Oct. 22 to Oct. 28. However, the first plenary session on Oct. 1 decided to change the schedule, meaning the General Session would run straight through without a break.

"This bazaar, or exhibition, is always held during the session. I don't know when it first started or who initiated it, but as far as I can remember, this tradition began during the government of former president Soeharto," Siregar said.

Visitors to the current General Session can find a variety of merchandise at the bazaar, although most of the items are not even remotely related to the stately event.

Automotive items, cellular phones, cameras, travel bags, books, batik, sarongs, Muslim dresses, bed covers, herbal products, junk food and numerous other odds and ends can be found among the stands, which are open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

There are also diverse services available at the bazaar, from massages to registration for new bank accounts.

The vendors, who offer no special discounts, are optimistic they will be able to turn a profit during the seven-day event.

"Even if we don't make a profit, I think the event is still good from a promotional point of view," said Sri Linda Setyawati, who was selling herbal products from Nyonya Meneer.

Sri said only the company's top selling products were being displayed at the stand for this event.

And she was offering potential customers and anyone else passing by free samples as part of her company's promotional drive.

"Taste our product first before buying more," she said while handing a sample drink to a passerby. She claimed the drink could refresh even the most exhausted of bodies.

Similar efforts to promote companies and products are being made at stands selling milk, coffee and honey products. A visitor could make a proper meal out of all these freebies.

A total of 54 makeshift kiosks have been provided to the vendors by the MPR Secretariat. A vendor can lease a two-by-three meter stand, partitioned off with plywood, for between Rp 1,100,000 (US$137) and Rp 1,700,000 for the week, depending on the stand's location -- the farther from the main lobby, the cheaper the rent.

The main lobby is clearly the most strategic place to be, with Assembly members and visitors passing by as they go to and come from the sessions.

The least expensive stand -- a long desk with no plywood partition -- goes for about Rp 750,000 a week.

Newsstand owners said they were enjoying windfall profits during the session, as newspapers, magazines and tabloids were among the most wanted items by Assembly members and other visitors.

"My income is twice as much now compared to before the sessions. All kinds of tabloids and newspapers are sold out here," Makmur, one of the newsstand owners, said.

Newspapers, soft drinks, herbal products and snacks are selling like hotcakes according to the traders, but merchandise such as gems and traditional batik are not. Other "hard-to-sell" items are cars (obviously not on display at the kiosks) and cellular phones.

The tight schedule of the Assembly's General Session has kept lawmakers from visiting the stands too often. Most visitors seen loitering around the stands are security personnel, staff of the Assembly's secretariat general and journalists.

"I hope the reason the MPR members aren't visiting our stand very often is that they are really busy with their agenda and not because they prefer to spend their money in Plaza Senayan," said Aida, referring to a plushy shopping center owned by one of Soeharto's daughters. (emf)