Time to stop climbing trees

Time to stop climbing trees

From Kompas

Tree climbing contests in Jakarta to celebrate Independence
Day on Aug. 17 have always used the trunks of pinang (areca palm)
trees measuring seven meters in length with a diameter of 20
centimeters. It takes over five years for the tree to grow to
this size.

In July every year, the trees are cut and their trunks sold on
sidewalks around town, including in the Manggarai area of South
Jakarta, to people preparing for the Independence Day
commemorations. It often happens that unsold trunks are left to
rot on the side of the road.

In the 1970s, when I escorted cyclists taking part in the Tour
d'ISSI from Jakarta to Surabaya, countless pinang trees with
their red fruit could still be seen along the rivers along the
route from Jakarta to Bandung.

Today, the tall trees along the road have disappeared. The
growth of these trees has fallen behind the rate at which they
are felled and sold. The local environment and the natural beauty
of the area have thus been harmed for over half a century of
independence.

Have we lost our creativity so that no other events can be
introduced to mark the auspicious day? I would appeal to
commemoration organizing committees to scrap the pinang climbing
contests once and for all.

G. ARIS B.
Jakarta