Bandung - Babakan Siliwangi - Jakarta

I went to Bandung last weekend. The city never fails to amaze me.

Unlike my usual trip of hedonism through the factory outlets, distros, or clubs of Bandung, I went to Babakan Siliwangi, an urban forest near Dago. I was captivated.

It wasn’t as majestic as you’d think, but the spirit of Bandung’s youth that surrounds the area is just magical. The students of ITB built a verandah in the forest in approximately two weeks. I reckon it’d take the city officials more than a month to build. Not to mention a number of traditional art shops located in the area. The green area is simply breath taking for a fellow accustomed to Jakarta’s pollution and its concrete jungle.

A dear friend took me there, and she told me that the forest would be torn down to make way for an apartment. FYI, there’s already an apartment that doesn’t sell very well just a kilometer away. Now there’s a reason to tear down a public landmark for private use. Kind of reminds me of the old Persija basecamp case.

There’s also news that Universitas Indonesia’s forest will be torn down to make way for a driving range and a horse-riding arena. My esprit de corps to my almamater is high, so my comments might be bias, but this kind of idiocy is just alarming.

For so many years I’ve been dreaming to have a cooler, pedestrian friendly Jakarta. I’ve been dreaming to have an outdoorsy place where people can gather and conduct physical activities, like the South Bank in Brisbane or the Botanical Garden of Bogor. Yet, the city officials of Bandung and Universitas Indonesia’s brass are considering to wipe off some of their greens to accommodate insignificant constructions.

An urban forest or a city park in Jakarta might decrease the number of Jakartans going to malls to conduct social gatherings, yet more malls and shopping centers are built and I don’t see the government working to secure a safe and comfortable sidewalks in Jakarta. But hey, we still have our beloved Taman Menteng, don’t we?

Amid the buzz of who will be DKI 1, Jakartans should really highlight the problems of Jakarta. Let the so-called elites squander on campaign smearing, we have better things to address: our well being.

Never-ending congestions, crappy public transportation system, broken sidewalks, unsafe security, not enough public space, hygiene, insufficient amount of trash bins are among the problems of Jakarta from my perspective. What’s your’s?

Or is the topic not as sexy as the possibility of Jokowi governing our city?