Initial Impressions Part Two- The Great Divide

I will begin with Bekasi, a suburb of Jakarta where I currently live. This could certainly be described as a more upscale area, relatively speaking. The main street nearby is Kemang Pratama Raya, literally ‘Kemang main street’, or something along those lines. From ones first view of this long street, lined with towering palm trees and immense Mediterranean style mansions adorning its sides, you would think yourself in Beverly Hills, only slightly less well kept and no one speaks English. The houses themselves are incredible displays of wealth echoed by the fleets of new SUV’s cascading down the strip.

(pic 1)One of many large houses on Kemang Pratama Raya

Much of the architecture in this area appears to have been influenced by the Portuguese, early settlers in Jakarta and the surrounding areas from around 1522. Huge American style Malls are also quite close by, all clustering together and with everything you want under one roof, including a vast array of Western stores; Pizza Hut, Dunkin Doughnuts, Starbucks, Burger King, MacDonalds etc. Walking just off the tree lined road, and clustered around my little house (shared with six others), you find yourself in an area more akin to the norm. Hundreds of little businesses, mostly cheap restaurants and warungs (food stalls) as well as market areas, travelling salesmen and women, cheap trinket shops, garages, and everything else in between. What is distinctly different with these, is the immediately more local feel. Almost no one speaks English when you go into or up to one of these places so a useful guide book with basic phrases is essential, though body language can often suffice. It appears to be quite a thriving little area yet with a much greater relaxed atmosphere, compared to Jakarta. 

(pic 2) Kampung tin roofed house in Bekasi

Yet, upon looking at this bustling little area of Bekasi, full of people gradually going about their daily business, one can’t help but notice the lack of housing. Where does everyone else live? Exploring past the thin veil of businesses, through some narrow (and I mean narrow) side streets, we come to the more typical housing in the area and begin to notice all was not as it seemed. Long winding little streets lined with small houses, often brightly painted and with very little frontage, are the homes of the street vendors and their families as well as many other, I guess, middle class types. But this is not all. A real sense of a wealth divide quickly catches up to you when, just down the road to the north of the main street and across the bridge you catch a glimpse of the kampung villages. This is the poorest form of living accommodation, not just in Bekasi, but all over Jakarta as well. They exist as something like shanty towns. Many structures, often of tin roof construction and haphazardly built, line many of the city and surrounding areas streets in this fashion and account for a huge proportion of the populace. They exist so close, often right next to the mega wealthy houses or the sky scrapers in Jakarta that it feels like two completely different worlds co-existing on the same plot of land. The kampungs in Jakarta, particularly in Glodok , the Chinese area we explored, are very extensive. Travelling through these winding passages full of people, overpowering aromas (good and bad), traffic (even on these tiny pathways!), markets selling everything from tasty treats of chicken satay and a plethora of chillies and spices to live cobras, ready to eat, can be an assault on the senses but totally worth the effort. The seemingly endless pathways through Glodoks red tilled (in some cases) and tin roofed crooked houses are a veritable maze with no discerning landmarks to help you find your way. Using the sun for direction will certainly be of help. If you manage not to get too lost here, you may even stumble upon one of the areas many Buddhist Temples. Be sure to take off your shoes before entering these solemn places though. Continuing on deeper into the kampung, you will hear the megaphone call to prayer blaring over the air. On one excursion I thought I heard this same call, only to discover, in fact, an old man with a dirty sleeveless vest in a doorway, lying down on an old couch singing happily into a microphone on his own. Perhaps he was practicing for X factor while escaping the heat outside. This area is a real slice of local living yet always remaining sharply contrasted with much wealthier areas, often just a stone’s throw away. The open sewers and badly polluted rivers flowing through the Glodok kampungs heighten this sense of the forgotten little villages in the background even though Jakarta’s main centre is not much better for this. Despite the relative poverty of these areas, however, the people are the happiest you can find. Smiles all round every turn you take and greetings of “Hello Mister” and “Welcome to Indonesia” abound as the street kids playfully run alongside you looking to get a high five or simply just to see the Bule (Indonesian for white westerner, literally ‘albino’). It can be very heart warming indeed.

(pic 3) One of the "wider" kampung streets in Glodok

(pic 4) An example of Jakarta's wealthy centre

Moving deeper into the commercial heart of Jakarta, leaving behind the winding kampungs and their occupants (though never very far away), we begin to notice the change in skyline. All of a sudden, there are massive skyscrapers, huge hotel complexes which are lit up like Vegas at night, more vast sprawling malls and office buildings, apartment blocks the size of a small city in themselves with palm trees on every balcony, the impressive obelisk like Monas monument, massive beautiful Mosques (this has the largest Muslim population in the world, after all) and the old Dutch part of the city (Kota) complete with VOC headquarters from the 17^th C. This sharp contrast makes you feel as though you have been transported to another time and place altogether. This architecture is also quite modern for the most part (aside from the old town) and unique in style giving all the appearance of a cutting edge city in its prime. It seems some select areas get far greater attention over others. Having said this, pollution is a serious problem and evident everywhere, particularly in the rivers.

(pic 5) Pollution in the city rivers

While this can be hard to ignore at first, as well as the burnt out shells of buildings scattered throughout the old part of the city and the fumes from the chaotic traffic jams (which deserve a segment in themselves), you soon look past it. The real wealth divide and struggle with pollution from an ever expanding populace is problem Jakarta and its surrounding suburbs must face in the coming years, but you can still enjoy wandering through the countless markets and side streets and discover what Jakarta really has to offer, its rich variety of culture, history, cuisine and unparalleled Indonesian hospitality.