Traveling through history in verse

Traveling through history in verse

Dari Batavia Sampai Jakarta 1616-1999: Peristiwa Sejarah dan
Kebudayaan Betawi-Jakarta dalam Sajak (From Batavia to Jakarta
1616-1999: Betawi-Jakarta Historical and Cultural Events
in Verse);
Zeffry J. Alkatiri;
Indonesia Tera, Magelang, 2001;
x + 98 pp;
Rp 14,000

JAKARTA (JP): This fantastic book consists of 45 poems by
Zeffry J. Alkatiri, taking readers through the history of the
capital.

The first section of the book details the Dutch colonial
period in Indonesia from 1616 to 1942. The second spans the years
1943 to 1965, covering the Japanese occupation and the first two
decades of the Republic of Indonesia, which ended with a failed
coup blamed on the now banned Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).
The final section of the book covers the years 1966 to 1999,
which includes the entirety of the New Order era, which ended
with the fall of Soeharto in May 1998 and the beginning of the
reform era.

These poems are flashes of past events that are unrolled to
form a historical mosaic of the capital. The book starts with the
Dutch turning Jacatra little by little into Batavia. Zeffry
writes: Every day, one centimeter at a time/cubit by cubit/with
all certainty/the tall Major/filled Jacatra swamps and turned
them/into Kastil Batavia. (p.3)

Another poem, Amsterdam - Batavia, tells how the Dutch
greedily and violently devoured the spices in its new colony:
Balls of fire echoed in Tidore,/Ternate, Banda and Ambone./They
uprooted trees/ and loaded them into their vessels./Spices were
turned into:/Church walls and minarets/Jails/City
Halls/Highways/Palaces/And Club Concordia. (p.6)

The first section of the book ends with Good-bye Juliana!, a
poem that begins with a depiction of the festive mood of the
residents of Jakarta, which vanished as "A flag with the big red
ball in the middle was being hoisted in the yard./Good-bye
princess, good-bye .../Good-bye voor de oorlog/And please be
seated ....?/Vaguely from Tangki Lio/Pinangsia/Small children
were marching/singing: Red and white flag/tied round the head/the
Dutch leave/Indonesia is free ...!" (p.24)

A new era had arrived: The period of Japanese occupation.

The second section of the book begins with a poem about the
flight of the Dutch colonial rulers: Because Hermes in
Harmonie/Has had his legs chained/His eyes blindfolded/His wings
let free/Good-bye! (p. 27). The next poem, Djakarta, March 24,
1945, gives a detailed account of what happened on this day from
8:32 a.m. to 9:15 p.m. These events depict the cruelty of the
Japanese occupational forces and the great hardships Indonesians
suffered: Black Christians keep their Bibles close to their
chests, three geisha leave the Japanese military compound with
their barter of rice, salted fish and sugar, some young men, with
heads shaven bald, march toward the "gate of hell" to the tune of
Kimigayo, the Japanese national anthem and a long line forms in
front of a Japanese warehouse, with people, including children
with "wind-filled" bellies, who wait and scramble for canned
food.

Four poems follow the early days of the Republic of Indonesia.
The rest of the second section of the book dwells on unique and
legendary figures and objects in Jakarta, children's games
peculiar to the city and also the unique culture of the capital.
We become acquainted with Mat Item, the Robin Hood of the Betawi
people in times gone by (Betawi is the name for the indigenous
people of Jakarta), and the Habib, or Muslim preachers of Arabic
origin.

The book's final section begins with the situation after the
failed coup known as the September 30 Movement. Following this
are poems about developments in Jakarta that were largely
initiated by governor Ali Sadikin in the 1970s.

Jakarta is today a city where "At the doors of city buses/A
thousand feet are struggling to get in/A thousand hands are
hanging/... Human beings move/Around/Doors of city buses." (p.69)

There are also poems to record what happened to students when
they demonstrated against Japanese products in 1974 and when they
took to the streets in 1998 to protest the convening of a special
session of the People's Consultative Assembly. The bloody May
riots of 1998, in which students lost their lives, many women
were raped and fires destroyed hundreds of buildings are also
covered. These events were certainly a tragedy, but they
benefited looters and according to one poem, the media: In one
editor's room/... secretly some writers/greedily scrambled for
and ate up/their favorite menu:/sorrow, bitterness, blood,/
And ... defeat. (p. 84)

The book closes with a poem about what Jakarta is like today:
Divided into a number of unofficial zones, each with their own
requirements you must fulfill before you enter. But then, if you
want to enter a Betawi home, just say Assalamuallaikum! (p. 97),
a Muslim greeting meaning "Peace be unto you".

Zeffry, a Russian literature graduate of the University of
Indonesia, believes that whatever changes have been introduced to
Jakarta and no matter how many ethnic or racial groups now make
up the population of the capital, the Betawi remain unique with
their open hospitality.

On the whole, this book, which won the Best Poetry Award 2000
from the Jakarta Arts Council, paints a unique picture of the
development Jakarta has undergone to date. Zeffry uses plain
language but manipulates it so that his words, ordinary as they
are, are rhythmical. His metaphors are also fresh, a few examples
being, "The sun sticks out its tongue", "half-circular steel
supports shake hands with each other" and "the cry of iron
steel".

As there are a number of Dutch words in the poems, a glossary
would have been useful. And one small thing has escaped the
attention of the editor: The front and back covers refer to 1616-
1999, while the title page and the page about the author refer to
1619-1999.

-- Lie Hua

The reviewer teaches at the Department of English, School of
Letters, National University in Jakarta.