Tracing Old Jakarta through photographs a thrilling experience

By Amir Sidharta

JAKARTA (JP): The voyage of Lawrence Blair and his brother the late Lorne Blair around the Indonesian archipelago in the 1970s traced Alfred Russell Wallace's 19th Century journey, as recorded in the latter's Malay Archipelago. The Blairs' trip was eventually made into the television series "Ring of Fire" and a book with the same title.

There is a great charm in tracing the footsteps of other people. I have always wished that I had the time, money, and energy to travel around Bali on a bicycle, as the soldier-artist W.O.J Nieuwenkampf did at the turn of the century.

In 1988, I had a unique opportunity to visit the sites recorded in A.J. Bernet Kemper's Monumental Bali. The photographs in the book were taken in the 1950s and 1970s, and a few in the 1930s. While not a very long time ago, nevertheless many of the sites were quite difficult to find. The impression I was left with, comparing the sites with the pictures in the book, was similar to that which I experienced when watching the film Dewi Dao at the Erasmus Huis Dutch Cultural Center a few months ago. It is clear that, while many things do change, some things never change. In any event, the new version of Monumental Bali provides a record of the state of preservation of the monuments, as well as being a source book on archaeology in Bali.

Of course, one would rather trace the idyllic Bali than the busy Jakarta. However, on the trail of both what has changed and what seems never to change, I decided to look for old Jakarta, guided by the photographs in the book Woodbury & Page, Photographers, Java. The Nineteenth Century Woodbury & Page photographs appear with the new photographs in this month's issue of architecture magazine Laras, which marks Jakarta's 468th anniversary.

It is uncertain exactly from where the famous Woodbury & Page photograph, The Outlook Tower, was taken. Walking towards the fish market from the main road, it seemed as though the view was from that very road. The tower in the middle of the frame, some smaller structures to the left, a row of buildings toward the right. The view seemed very similar, but not quite right.

The tower should have been more frontal. Therefore it was clear that the view might be seen from shanties behind the fishing gear stalls. Next to the police station across the street from the Maritime Museum, there is a small pathway that leads to the squatter's homes. From the front of the shacks the view of the tower, taken before 1872, can be seen.

It is evident that, while many things have changed, the small buildings in front of the tower still exist, and the tower itself still stands erect. It is also clear that the row of structures to the right of the tower, known today as the Maritime Museum, served as a storage depot and part of the Batavia fortifications.

A woman who claimed that she had lived in the neighborhood since she was very young asked to see the copy of the photograph I had brought with me and said: "Yes, previously, this canal was wide and on the left there was a suspension bridge. There was no water gate at the time." It was clear that the shanties had been built on top of the wide canal. It is not surprising that garbage now accumulates in front of the dwellings of the poor squatters.

The new photograph has been taken with every effort to minimize the sight of squalor from the frame.

'Toko Tiga'

The secret of finding places depicted in old photographs is to use a number of landmarks and key structures. Old maps show that the bends of canals and the layout of roads are the two elements that change the least. In any comparative study of maps from different time periods, canals and roads are usually used as key positioning points.

In the old Toko Tiga photograph there are a number of elements that can be used as orientation points. There is the canal bending towards the left, a bridge over the canal and a row of shop houses of different heights, positioned in front of the bend in the canal. One shop projects noticeably further onto the road than the others. The streets to the sides of the canal are lined with shop houses, and low walls are scattered here and there along the sides of the canal.

Although the angle from which the old photograph was taken is now blocked by large trees, the view of a river with a noticeable bend can still be seen today from the bridge supporting Jl. Kemenangan. The bridge has been changed from one bowing with elegant inclines to a boring flat bridge. We can also see that the open space in front of Hotel Citra, which shows a noticeable difference in building setback lines, has existed since the mid- nineteenth century, as can be seen from the old photograph. Some buildings are exactly as they appeared in the Nineteenth Century, while many others, particularly the Chinese shop houses, have been covered with ugly aluminum cladding.

The Supreme Court and the Ministry of Finance buildings near the present day Lapangan Banteng have not changed much since the Nineteenth Century. The two are, however, the only two colonial buildings left around the square.

The neoclassical building of the Ministry of Finance, called het Groote Huis (the Big House) or het Witte Huis (the White House) was begun in 1809 by Governor General H.W. Daendels, nicknamed the Batavian Napoleon, using materials taken from the old Castle of Batavia which had begun to be demolished in that year. The ministry building was finally completed in 1828. At the same time, in the middle of the square two buildings facing the Waterloo Memorial were erected, giving the square its name Waterlooplein. The monument was destroyed by the Japanese and in the 1960s the Freeing of Irian Jaya Monument was erected in its place. Today the square is known as the Lapangan Banteng.

In 1848, the seat of the colonial high court was moved to the smaller neo-classical building north of the larger buildings of the Department of Finance. Today, it continues its function as the Supreme Court of the Republic of Indonesia.

'Harmonie'

The building in the photograph Harmonie, constructed from 1810 and opened in 1815, is of the Societeit de Harmonie, a club situated between what was then the old part of Jakarta and the new residential "suburb" of Weltevreden. Today the site is at the eastern section of the junctions of Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara, Jl. Majapahit, and Jl. Ir. H Juanda.

The pattern of Jl. Ir. H Juanda, which turns south towards Jl. Majapahit and north towards Jl. Hayam Wuruk and Gajah Mada, is evidently an inheritance from the past, as can be seen in the old photograph. The tracks of the Bataviasche Tramway-Maatschapij, the Batavia Tramway Company, established in 1869, bending from Molenvliet (Jl. Hayam Wuruk) to Noordwijk (Jl. Ir. H. Juanda) can be seen in the lower left corner of the photo. The photo is believed to have been taken before 1880.

Approximately a century after the photograph was taken, in the late 1970s or early 1980s, the Harmoni building was demolished because it was considered a hindrance to traffic planning in the area.

While discovering that an old vestige of the past still stands brings great joy, finding that it has been demolished is devastating. Jakarta, which celebrated its 486th anniversary on Thursday, June 22, is a city of great historical significance. Hence, to strip the city of the remaining traces of the past would be to deprive it of its historical characteristics.

This is as important for the citizens of Jakarta as it is for visitors to the city. Visitors to Jakarta expect to see historical charm which can distinguish it from the other sprawling urban centers of the world. The citizens of Jakarta, such as the woman who lived in a shanty near the Outlook Tower, would be interested in preserving the old city in order to sustain their memories of living in the city and to maintain the city's historical identity.

Despite the Jakarta municipal administration's increasing attention to the field historic preservation in the capital city, it is clear that more efforts are required. The preservation of historical sites should incorporated into all city planning studies done in relation to Greater Jakarta.

There should be more citizen involvement in preservation issues. A collective memory project, where people could recollect, recount and record their memories of the capital city of Jakarta through photographs, maps and other visual collections (drawings, prints, paintings), oral histories and anecdotes, would perhaps be instrumental in promoting this citizen involvement. Let us all take part in the preservation of Jakarta, for the sake of the memory of our capital city.