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