Jakartass Home thoughts from abroad. Alien thoughts from home.

Having to rely on Wikileaks for info must be galling for 'proper' journalists, much as relying on 'proper' journalists can be galling for bloggers such as I.

We all knew that the first election for the Jakarta governorship was rigged, but not necessarily how. So we must thank the Jakarta Globe for reporting on a cable, dated April 25, 2007, sent from the American Embassy.

“Despite the intense press coverage of the election and its national importance, the Jakarta elites have rigged the game.”

The cable said a number of sources, including a member of the Golkar Party central board named Dadan Irawan, told the embassy that former Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso was supporting Fauzi financially because Fauzi would “reward this loyalty by blocking any efforts to investigate Sutiyoso’s murky business dealings after he departs office.”

Fauzi, it said, was also expected to allow Sutiyoso to continue the money-making opportunities he had enjoyed as governor.

"Our contacts tell us that Vice Governor Fauzi purchased the support of three of the four largest political parties in Jakarta for at least Rp 5 billion apiece [$555,000],” the cable says, referring to the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), Golkar, and the Democratic Party.

So, what were the "money-making opportunities he had enjoyed"?

There is very little to be gleaned from Google or other sources regarding Sutiyoso's companies, but we can all conjecture about how he enriched himself.

To have been governor in the first place, as appointed by President Megashopper, he must have had sufficient financial resources. As a former Lieutenant-General, for 23 years a member of the notorious Kopassus, alleged to have been involved with human rights abuses during Indonesia's military occupation of East Timor, he will no doubt have added to his pension through involvement in the army's business empire. And it must not be forgotten that he was Jakarta's military commanderduring the mayhem of May '98.

As a former Jakarta governor, Sutiyoso takes great pride in having launched the Transjakarta Busway system. It's operators, different bus companies, regularly complain about being under-resourced. He may well complain that Fauzi Bowo could have done better but the real blame may be laid at Sutiyoso's door for not thinking through the project by, for example, ensuring a sufficient number of refuelling stations for the LPG powered buses.

A couple of years ago, the Buddha Bar was a highly controversial issue. In March 2009, Fauzi Bowo said that the city administration had bought the historic building, formerly the Central Jakarta Immigration Office, for Rp.30 billion ($2.51 million) in 2001, and poured an additional Rp.6.1 billion into restoring it in 2005 – when the city was led by former Governor Sutiyoso.

And who ended up using the building? Why, none other than Renny Sutiyoso, the daughter of Sutiyoso, and her pal Puan Maharani, the daughter of former president Megawati, .

Naturally, there were calls for an investigation by the Corruption Eradication Commission, but, not unexpectedly, nothing seems to have happened on that score

Back in 2000, as Governor of Jakarta, Sutiyoso was de facto on the board of six companies owned by the city administration: tap water company PDAM Jaya, slaughter company PD Dharma Jaya, property company PD Pembangunan Sarana Jaya, market operator PD Pasar Jaya, waste water company PD PAL Jaya and hotel operator PD Wisata Niaga Jaya. He was expected to resign from them, as well as the 21 jointly owned companies of which jhe was chief commissioner "to improve their performances."

The head of the city economic office Dameria Saragih told reporters that the governor would initially resign from four of the companies, namely PT Bumi Grafika Jaya, PT Food Station Cipinang, PT Pembangunan Jaya and PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol.

Two years later, councillors were surprised when they discovered that Sutiyoso was still a commissioner at city-owned PD Pasar Jaya, which operates dozens of markets and shopping centers.

So, this is my conjecture.

As for Fauzi Bowo's opponent in the rigged election, Adang Daradjatun, a former deputy chief of the National Police, one of the most corrupt institutions in Indonesia, reportedly paid the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) between Rp.15 billion and Rp.25 billion for its support.

One may ponder whether Nunun Nurbaeti, his now missing wife, lent him more than a hand.

She probably also helped him become a PKS legislator in the DPR where one may assume he's grafting away.

For Divided We Stand 1, click here, and 2, click here.
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We Are Not Alone

"Sadikin demonstrated that by responsible dedicated leadership Indonesians can help themselves. He … achieved so much to improve life in Djakarta … by using his imagination and leadership. In doing so, he … inspired people to work hard for the public good. He … instilled a new sense of self-confidence into them and their future."
Mochtar Lubis

When seeking election, the current inept governor suggested to the electorate that they should "let the expert handle the capital city.”  The electorate's consensus is that he is not an expert, or if he is, then none like him is needed, let alone wanted. Presumably he himself lacks the "self-confidence" which is the key to making Jakarta a better place; that will only come about when elected leaders such as he listen to the electorate. However, this means getting down and dirty, something I anticipated was beyond his comprehension.

When Sukarno appointed Sadikin (a Marine general) governor and told him to "save the city," Sadikin set out to learn first hand the problems of the people of the city he was to save. Incognito, he traveled the length and breadth of Djakarta, alone or with only an aide, on foot, by jeep, or on public transportation – of which there was pitifully little. He stood in the rain and tried to squeeze onto the overcrowded buses; he saw scalpers buy up the few tickets that were available. He ate at the roadside stalls and heard the complaints of the hawkers, the slum dwellers and the squatters.

"I try to understand the problems of the common people. I have no training so with me it is trying to know the problems, a little bit of common sense and feeling."

Assuming that Jakarta's special autonomy status is reviewed, as I outlined in this post (Divided We Stand 2), then electing someone in Sadikin's mould, such as the Mayor of Solo, Joko Widodo, (an 'expert' in exporting furniture), is required to respond to the need of the city's citizens to have a city to enjoy being a part of, rather than apart from, to inspire people to work hard for the public good.

A popular word in the vocabulary of bureacrats and their political masters is 'socialisation'. It is currently used as an excuse for procrastination rather than as an educative tool, and the public is rarely involved in the decisons which directly concern them, whether it's the clearance of squatters or not involving members of the public in formulating Jakarta's Spatial Plan 2030.

The structure of Jakarta's administration was established by Sadikin on August 9th 1966.

Djakarta was divided into: five townships, each under a mayor who is a technical person appointed by the governor; 27 sub-districts (kelurahan ) consisting of 200,000 persons and under a divisional officer, and 220 "village" units of around 30,000 people under a village leader.

Power is decentralized, with the headman at the lowest level being "responsible for knowing everything that goes on in the neighborhood and for carrying out government orders and organizing various neighborhood activities. The next level up is responsible for "such matters as local security and sanitation."

This policy of administration seeks to insure "greater participation of the communities in development activities and encourages cooperation between the government and the communities. Furthermore, the Governor is freed from the daily routine activities of administration."

In spite of the massive population growth, this structure has varied but little since. It is still a top-down mindset, even at street level, with little "participation of the communities", let alone "co-operation". It's as if the population exists to serve the civil servants, rather than as it should be, the other way around. Yet the structure needs few changes to serve quite adequately.

In the interests of rukun (harmony) and social control, each house is designated within a rukun tetangga (RT – neighbourhood association) of 45 houses (in my case, but presumably lots more in densely populated urban kampungs). Every resident is supposed to be registered with Pak RT.

Each RT is a sub-division of a rukun warga (RW – citizen's association) which in turn is a sub-division of a kelurahan (village administrative unit). This is where Indonesians sort out ID cards and check whether they've been included on the electoral register. In terms of the larger bureaucracy, every kelurahan is a sub-division of one of the five Jakarta mayoralties, and so it goes up to City Hall, through the police, immigration and whichever government department is interested in keeping tabs on the 230 or so million people in this vast country..

However, power corrupts, and it's not unknown for RTs on the bottom rung of the government ladder to become little Hitlers, perhaps through embezzling community funds for personal benefit.

A new model of representation is therefore called for if Jakarta in particular is to overcome its many problems, although it need not be too radical a change as the framework I have outlined is already in place.

Empires have fallen when the power élite lose touch with the commonfolk. Authoritarian regimes, of whatever political hue, inevitably crumble as their hold on resources leads to a dissolute lifestyle.

Virtually all changes in vibrant societies come from below, from the communities at large.

Transition Initiative is focussed on the pressures of climate change, fossil fuel depletion and increasingly, economic contraction, but neatly encapsulates why community action is, possibly, the only viable model.

• If we wait for the governments, it'll be too little, too late.
• If we act as individuals, it'll be too little.
• But if we act as communities, it might just be enough, just in time.

As to whether City Hall can adapt to this ………..

I had occasion to go into town today to meet some folks. As Jakartass Towers and Ya 'Usual are both within reach of a train station, I figured that going by train was the way to go thus avoiding traffic jams and making substantial savings on taxi fares.

Recently PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) have stopped their express trains from Bogor, Bekasi and Tangerang into town which used to whizz through my local stations, rescheduling them as stopping trains. This made me happy because, as the news had it, the rolling stock would be air-conditioned and the doors would shut.

Some passengers were unhappy because they'd been informed that there would be a flat rate fare for both short and long journeys, but again I wasn't fazed by this as there would still be substantial savings over the taxi fare, and I'd get where I wanted to go that much quicker.

The first surprise was that the flat fare wasn't in operation and I paid just Rp.1,500, the old rate.

I wasn't that surprised at the crush inside, but the flow of cool air on my head was very pleasant. That I could barely see out of the windows was of no particular concern as the helpful driver announced each station well in advance, even going so far as to tell us which doors, on the left, right or both sides, would open.

I disembarked, squeezed my way through the bajaj and ojek drivers touting for custom, and wended my way down the road – the sidewalk was blocked with parked cars and motorcycles – and met some old friends and reacquainted with a few others.

After our fruitful meeting,.I set off for the return home.

The first surprise was that it would cost me Rp.500 more for the return trip, but as that's only about 30c. (US) that's no burden. I also picked up a schedule, the first I've ever seen here; my train was ten minutes 'early', so what was there tyo complain about?.That the station had been refurbished with platform signs advising us where smokers can – erm – smoke, where to deposit litter plus a few don'ts such as no hawking of goods, no sitting on the roofs or crossing the lines between platforms, was yet another plus point.

As soon as the train arrived, per usual I headed for the last carriage as when disembarking I'd be near the exit gate. Once inside, pleased with the amount of floor space, I asked a young lass if this particular train was going my way. She told me that I was, and also told me that I was in the women's only section.

That was one sign I'd missed, so I headed off to the next compartment where I enquired if I was in the men's only section and also asked if there was a special compartment fror foreigners.

Here I noticed other promising signs, literally. A few spaces were designated as Tempat Duduk Prioritas, which was translated into English as 'Courtesy Seats' and Chinese as  ….  There were pictograms of a pregnant woman, a child carrying woman, someone with a boken leg and an aged person with a walking stick.

On the two sets of four seats, all occupied, just two fitted the last category, seven were in their twenties and the other one, possibly fifty, was occupied with his mobile phone, quietly texting away. Presumably he hadn't noticed the four signs which clearly indicated that mobile phones were to be switched off.

New style

All that’s needed now to make train travel a nigh on perfect experience would be for those waiting to board to be courteous and give room for those of us wanting to get off.

Megacity problems are exacerbated by what are usually serious deficits in the realm of knowledge.

Jakarta’s problems are varied. Some are universal and common to mega-cities worldwide, and well-documented, whilst others are governed by the mindset of power brokers – see Divided We Stand (1) – with little sense of what being public servants, elected or otherwise, entails.

(Thankfully, there are a few, very few, public officials who are rightly lauded by the public, whilst being reviled by corrupt public ‘servants’.)

I must admit that this vision of a traffic-free Jakarta appeals as then I wouldn’t have to continually moan about problems and intellectualise about solutions.

However, constructive critic that I am, I now come to the point where I must stand up, be counted (in addition to being a footnote in last year’s census) and offer a solution or three.

Back in 2004 I quoted a now defunct blog which noted the newly elected President SBY as stating his commitment to overhauling the country’s sprawling capital. Jakarta’s facelift will center on managing its most pressing problems: traffic, garbage and waterways.

Ah, promises, promises …. which he’s only acted upon in the past week or so!

But why should SBY be involved?

City Hall is stuffed with bureaucrats working, supposedly, at the behest of an elected governor. 9.5 million Jakarta residents are represented by just one local council (the DPRD) with (only) 94 councillors*. Mathematicians may observe that each councillor is notionally responsible for c.100,000 people. This is not unusual; New York has similar representation, although in Jakarta councillors are only accountable and responsive to the electorate at the ballot box.

As Cecep Effendi coherently argues, the city’s special autonomy status is a major obstacle to change.

Firstly, all administrations throughout Indonesia are given their authority by laws set by successive governments and legislatures. Jakarta, as the capital city and centre of government (and the economy) is one of four provinces with a special autonomy status, the others being Aceh, Yogyakarta and (West) Papua.

All provincial governors are beholden to the President. Even though they have been elected by the citizenry, none can be prosecuted or removed from office without his permission. (After their terms have expired is fortunately another matter though.)

Although the city is divided into five municipalities (mayoralities) and one regency, Palau Seribu (Thousand Islands), Jakarta’s development program is in the hands of the governor – s/he appoints the five mayors and one regent. Given that the current governor, Fauzi Bowo, has spent some 35 years in City Hall, it is inevitable that the appointees are his cronies.

Only one governor, Ali Sadikin, who was appointed by Sukarno on April 28th 1966 and served through the early Suharto years until 1977, has had the common touch.

He moved to improve infrastructure, education and environment, in that order. Basic to his approach was concern that the development effort lead to a speedy economic acceleration through a management policy of implementing “proper distribution of income and thereby proper distribution of social participation and social responsibility. “

As one Djakarta editor said, “For the first time, people on the city feel someone cares about them.”

What Jakartans have had since is a top-down administration with little to no voice in the management of the city. There has been little of that ‘care’ emanating from City Hall since, and seemingly the only outlet for frustrations is through a few NGOs, through demonstrations, which are a source of income for some, or Twitter.

As Cecep Effendi has coherently argued, the city’s special autonomy status is a major obstacle to change, with a clear definition of the overlapping central and provincial responsibilities.

For example, inter-provincial transport systems, including major roads, railways and bus services, are manifestly a central government responsibility.

The responsibilities of the governor of Jakarta and the city mayors (also) need to be redefined. The Jakarta governor should only be responsible for some fundamental areas such as issues of public transport, sewage, drainage, potable water supply, while the responsibility of the mayors needs to be enlarged to make them act responsively to the grievances of their residents.

It will undoubtedly lead to the reduction of most of the power currently held by the officials at the city hall (the governor’s office). Hopefully, this will help bring about efficiency and effectiveness with regard to the services provided by the city hall.

Undoubtedly, Cecep, but without a greater recognition among the rakyat (citizenry) that their responsibilities go much further than casting a vote once every four or five years, then change isn’t going to come.

My thoughts on that will follow in Divided We Stand (3) – We Are Not Alone.
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*You really need broadband to access the Jakarta government website; even then you won’t find any information about the activities of the councillors or their activities. If any readers can provide these details, please post the URL in the comments box.

"I would find it impossible to live in the city without engaging with something living and green and ever-changing in this hostile setting." 
Dan Pearson  

Our Kid and I set out yesterday to discover a little haven of peace in this "hostile setting" and we found it. However, it wasn't exactly "living and ever-changing" because it's a cemetery, the oldest one in Jakarta in fact.

I was alerted to Taman Prasasti Museum by Thomas Belfield on his recent visit to Jakarta from Hawaii where he is doing his masters degree in urban studies (of Jakarta).. Much of what he told he then he has subsequently posted on his blog and we were looking for a "world of big trees, cool shade, singing birds, and the quiet of Batavia’s dead."

And that was what we found, a little oasis with a fascinating glimpse into what Jakarta, then Batavia, once was.

Mahandi Syonata posted this picture from the 1860's.

He has a keen interest in Indonesia's 'social' history and on this page he has posted photos of many of the tombs of deceased Dutch dignitaries and their family members and translated many of the epitaphs.

Brits may be interested in the grave stones of two Merchants and a Doctor of Medicine who died nigh on two hundred years ago.

We were brought back to the present by the arrival of a fashion shoot and a model was photographed draping herself over and around a plinth. She was not as poetic as this one.

For the past month I’ve been searching through nigh on 1800 Jakartass posts for material to include in the first Jakartass Anthology which I hope Nulis Buku, Indonesia’s first online ‘self-publishing’ on demand print publisher, will produce.

I’ve covered many topics in the past seven plus years but, as with most bloggers, my obvious obsession is, well, ‘me’, and how I cope with living in this fascinating, exasperating megacity. So far, 160 pages containing 45,000 words have been edited, with hyperlinks removed, and formatted to the Nulis Buku template; I’m looking to reach 200 pages.

Sights

Although I often use illustrations, I often wonder if I’m truly capturing the essence of our daily experiences.

When I started Jakartass, there were few other blogs in Indonesia, let alone written by expats. Brandon Hoover was a very early pioneer, pre-dating my efforts  by eighteen months. However, his blog, Java Jive, was essentially a photoblog, and many of his posts were about his increasing passion and technological expertise. That said, he was able to capture his vision of the beauty and contrasts of this fascinating country. He’s now living with his Indonesian partner in Manila, Philippines, and continues to post amazing photos. For the archives of his Indonesian sojourn, click here.

For some years, the folk running Jakarta Daily Photo have been doing what it says on the tin, but I’ve never felt captivated by the content because, unlike Brandon’s images, many of the images are over-familiar, generic even.

I’m pleased, therefore, that Melanie Wood has continued to get under Jakarta’s skin with her Gangs of Indonesia blog, in which she writes pithy prose to illustrate her photos.

Sounds

I recently wrote the following:

“Disiplin, disiplin!” My taxi driver bemoaned the lack of it as we crawled past not one but two exit gates on the toll road at just after six in the morning. Of the four lanes, there was only one which was moving – barely, as the others were occupied by commuters queuing up to leave; they should have stayed in the two inner lanes but some figured they could jump ahead by squeezing in at the front.

Fools.

We chatted about the good old Suharto days when rules were occasionally enforced and when you knew that if you crossed certain boundaries you could get your head kicked in, or worse. The only damage done now is to your wallet or bank account.

Ah, but what does it actually sound like?

Well, now you can find out for yourself because my good friend Derek Bacon, as well as being co-author of Culture Shock! Jakarta and a noted illustrator, has a keen interest in collecting the sounds of everyday life – wherever he is.

He has just uploaded part of his collection of Indonesian soundgrabs to the Internet Archive and among them is a recording of a Jakarta taxi driver expressing his views on Indonesia’s corruption.

Derek has also posted the clicks, clangs and cries of street vendors, the croaks and cheeps of the minimal wildlife, and various other sounds, both intimate, such as the groans engendered by a massage, and very public, as in the amplified calls to prayer.

If you miss Indonesia or want to let friends and family know something about the ambient and intrusive sound that are a constant in your life here, then download the files.

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Incidentally, if you want to hear my dulcet tones intoning in a BBC interview about the disastrous Jakarta floods in 2007, click here.

In my idle moments – and often when I'm busy but procrastinating – I come across websites which mirror my thoughts about Life in Jakarta; they make me wish for more time to create something similar.

But as I haven't got the time, have you?

1. There's an Indian site called I Paid A Bribe.com

Bribed? Didn't bribe? Powerless? Victimised? Angry?

Tell us your story: using your stories we'll advocate with the government for an improved system. Together let's fight corruption

Of particular interest is the page of Citizens' Charters – published documents informing citizens of what they can rightfully expect from the bureaucracies of particular government departments.

2. Jakarta is growing ever outwards. In spite of continuing subsidence and rising sea levels, this includes the north shore where landfill reclamation is providing space for luxury developments (at the expense of the mangroves which provided a barrier from high tides and a living for fishermen and their families). A further plan is for a 60 kilometre long sea wall which is expected to be completed in 2025."

Obviously the powers-that-be don't know the story of King Canute!

Still, while we await the splashing of vast dollops of cash on luxury houses, hotels, condominiums, business centers and massive shopping malls, pockets of emptiness remain. Some are derelict buildings which have varying degrees of historical interest; others are empty sites which offer a brief haven for wildlife.

If you haven't got a past, then you're lost in your present and have no idea where you're going.

I've discovered a fascinating website, Derelict London, which offers a glimpse into my nostagia.

So, how about an Empty Jakarta website someone?