UN information center

UN information center

The day was Monday, Sept. 29, 1997 at about 1:30 p.m. As I
passed by a Central Jakarta street called Jl. Kebon Sirih, my
eyes suddenly spotted one of the high-rise buildings on the left
in front of which there was a colorful United Nations flag. Near
it, there was a white sign board indicating that this was UN
Information Center. One of the security guards at the entrance
smiled at me as he noticed my apparent interest so I stooped.
After the usual exchange of greetings, the man directed me to
proceed to fifth floor if I wanted to have a look around the
center.

Upon arrival on the fifth floor, a man wearing a uniform in
the color of the UN flag welcomed me and, without being asked,
immediately directed me to the library. He probably just assumed
I came to visit the library and so he told me to wait a while
because the lady librarian was busy taking lunch. I guessed the
lunch was delicious and the pleasant smell completely invaded my
nose. After a few minutes the librarian appeared. She's a middle-
aged Indonesian. I introduced myself to her and after a small
chat she began her explanation of the library.

I still have a fresh memory of her as she treated me with such
courtesy. Within a few minutes, I had glanced at small journals
on shelves. Within the small library, there was a video viewing
section so I started glancing at the video film shelf. All the
titles were based on important UN global activities. I selected
about three titles which I wanted to watch: 50th anniversary of
the UN, Secretary-General's address to UN staff International
Conference on Population and Development, etc. I spent only a few
minutes on each of the three films. While enjoying myself in the
video room, at the same time I looked at various decorations on
the walls. Certainly, the video setup was the biggest I have ever
seen. The fully air-conditioned room was like an executive
classroom and the front table was placed in between two
UN/Indonesian flags. On the wall just behind the table, there was
some bold writing saying "... nation shall not lift up sword
against nation, nor shall they learn war anymore."

Before I left I also decided to go around the administrative
offices where I glanced at other spectacular UN photos of all the
secretaries-general including Sir Kofi Annan. All the UN member-
nations' national flags were on display. This place is so nice,
particularly for stamps collection fans as there were various
internal stamps. I won't forget the elderly video attendant who
gave me a cup of water upon my request. Thanks to the female
librarian for giving me some free-of-charge booklets. It was all
very nice, but I regretted two things at the very end.

First some of the videocassettes I tried were out of order
though people in-charge didn't seem to take note.

Last, one of the photo displays had an inscription Africa in
Crises. As usual, this is an unfair description of Africa because
the UN intentionally refuses to inform outsiders that not all the
African countries are in crisis.

BUHARI ABDU

Jakarta