Jakarta, as a city and national capital, has seen immense growth and is not stopping anytime soon. This second post on Jakarta aims to highlight where Jakarta is at in terms of the world stage. In terms of a home for the people? They prove again and again their capacities in adaptation, through free will or not. With roots that run as deep as these, I have no doubt they will land on their feet, and go on surviving.
A Brief History of Jakarta:
397 CE: Location first established (north west tip of what is now known as the island of Java) and called Sunda Pura as capital of the Kingdom of Tarumangara
15th century: Under Purtugese rule, Named Sunda Kelapa of the Sunda Empire, port of the pepper trade
1527: Sultan of Bantam defeated the Portuguese and named the site Jayakerta (meaning Glorious Fortress in Sundanese)
1621: Dutch conquer the capital and and name the city Batavia of the Dutch East Indies, an important trading post for both them and the British
1945: Japanese renamed city Jakarta during WWII rule of Indonesia
1949: Jakarta became the national capital when Indonesia gained independence
1966: Jakarta is declared a special capital district, gaining status to that of a state or province
The World Stage:
As we’ve established, Indonesia is situated in a very unique crossroads of the world, holding an important place in terms of international connections. Jakarta is the political centre of Indonesia, acting as the seat of the national and provincial government. For one, it serves as the diplomatic capital of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations). As a hub of international finance and trade, it is an important place of industry and education. Indonesia is part of the G20 richest nations of the world. The top industries here include banking, manufacturing, mining, agriculture (think palm oil), transportion, communication, and tourism. The largest economy in SE Asia, and an emerging market economy, ranked 16th largest in the world in terms of GDP. The GDP per capita is well below global average though, actually ranked the second last in the world. This is class disparity, and means the living is still very hard here for most people. With foreign investors and private owners entering the scene, Jakarta is seeing the presence of many new jobs, which is source of their rising momentum.
Indonesia has a long history of kings and sultans, leading back to before the Dutch rule of the 16th century. The monarchy was abolished in 1949 when Indonesia gained independence, and is now one of the world’s largest democratic countries (on paper). The first two presidents became dictators proving that these idealistic changes are hard to measure from the outside and in all honestly I'd say from the inside as well. Just the way things are in some parts of the world.
Royal families and rulers are still present, and although they don’t hold official power, they do play an important role in public life. Living right here in Jakarta is Prince Notonegoro. Outside of Jakarta, in Java and as well as on the other islands, the sultanate play a deeper role within their communities: retaining their identity, status, history, and culture, they are treated with great respect and honour, revered by the people. Their palaces are coloured with religious symbols and embedded in religious rites. There is social hierarchy present and a caste system that flows from the sultanate. It has been less than a century that the new government structure has been present and unless you're right in the capital, it doesn't take much hold of the people. Spending time in Jakarta, then moving out beyond into the periphery of Indonesia, I can see how the traditions and customs run much deeper for the people and why they revere the royal families to a higher degree.
Merdeka Square and the Powers that be:
In Central Jakarta, from my place in Kota Tua, a short tuktuk ride takes me to the city centre. There is quite the display of wealth, presence and power. The National Monument and the Prince Diponegoro National Statue are contained in the flawlessly manicured park of Merdeka Square. Bordering this park is a powerful lineup of buildings that illustrate Indonesia’s power and status on the world stage:
Bank Indonesia,
The Supreme Court of the Republic of Indonesia
Merdeka Palace
The Ministry of Communication
The National Library, Museum, and Gallery
The United States Embassy
Ministries of both Foreign and Home Affairs
Ministry of State Secretariat
Ministry of Transportation of Indonesia
ASEAN headquarters.
Isqlal Mosque (Java is mostly Muslim)
Jakarta Cathedral
The architecture of these buildings alone will stop you in your tracks: some are the size of whole city blocks. The security is extreme: electric gates and spiked fences. It took me over an hour to walk the border of the square. Then there is the traffic of the 6-lane motorway (absolutely full of motorbikes and cars!) moving through the the square. Everyone has an agenda. like they're late, horns blaring. The city stays in motion like they'll turn to stone if they stop for a second. Where are you all going? I got to witness a police-escorted entourage exit the Embassy, where traffic was stopped both ways. I had to cross at one point (with no crosswalk in sight) and thought I might need an escort of my own. Just a little bit (read; a lot) overwhelming if you ask me. After looking around the gallery and museum, I retreated to the kampung rather quickly.
Growing Pains:
The speed at which Jakarta is growing has become problematic for the longevity of the city and the lives of the people who call it home. The overpopulation has lead to excessive extraction of ground water to combat clean drinking water shortages. I'd like to really emphasize how The Dutch really created problems in the infrastructure here. Mimicking their own country, they lined Jakarta and the rest of Java with canals for transport of goods and alleviation of flooding, causing the opposite effect. Jakarta is situated on an island with a river delta and extensive swampy areas. It sees continuous destruction of mangroves and upland forest vegetation due to industry demands. With the rainfall reaching higher than 67cm each year, Jakarta already sees many floods. Not to mention being in the vicinity of a major earthquake, monsoon and tsunami region of the world. In the face of the climate crisis, these issues are only increasing and becoming more frequent. In addition, the huge real estate boom here in the 1990s brought about an explosion of houses and buildings (to accommodate the people moving to the city for work) going up too fast, without future foresight or safe regulations. These factors have catalyzed a sinking city (11 inches per year!!), and this is now a major issue that needs to be addressed. The floods bring dangerous conditions of pollution and sanitation with them into the city. People are evacuated from of their homes if they’re lucky to survive the extreme weather events, that bring extreme death tolls with them. If they're soared to stay, many people live in fear for the next flood.
The government has plans to build more sea walls, but the funding is uncertain. They actually plan to move the capital itself to Borneo Island to the north, and will rename it Nusantara (meaning archipelago). This move is set to cost $33 billion Not only leaving the people behind, but this change brings with it increased deforestation of the Borneo Rainforest, which is heartbreaking. The palm oil industry alone has wiped out vast stretches of the rainforests already. This is the most biodiverse region of the world and these developments will continue to destroy many habitats such as the Orangutan.
My next destination is this very place, so I will keep you posted on what I see. Time to step into that next world, and do my best to tread lightly. I'm thankful to have had the opportunity to take in all that is Jakarta: to be exposed to the ground level of what a growing and evolving city in the heart of Southeast Asia is capable of. Meeting the people in the heart of it and trying to see things through their eyes.
I have completed the first portion of my journey, feeling confident in my myself and my state of readiness to keep moving forward.
Sources & Further Reading:
https://www.thejakartapost.com/amp/opinion/2021/11/15/jakarta-is-sinking-heres-how-to-stop-this.html
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