love yet?

Three years ago, around the same time in the year, I asked you in this blog "If love is not enough to love, what else is there in love?" I am still waiting for an answer from anyone of you out there... Because I still have no clue after all this time. It feels like the snow landscape, it could be sublimely beautiful but cold and harsh at the same time.

The Jakartans

"Gue stay sampe malem jam 9 trus balik keluar sama temen2 gue yg salah satunya lagi hamil dg naik mobil box menerjang banjir... sampe di depan gerbang metro kita jalan kaki sekitar 2 kilo di tengah banjir utk nyegat oplet di pinggir tol... utg tuhan baik, kita ditengah jalan ketemu sama sopir metro yg mau anterin pake mobil phanter sampe ke pinggir tol... Man, waktu itu seluruh hp dan telpon telkomsel juga lumpuh sejakarta... itu bener2 balik ke zaman pre-technology deh... kita udah kaya refugee2 yg diliat di tv-tv(ditambah lagi dengan ibu hamil 6 bulan temen baik gue yg ikut kita jalan 2 kilo di tengah banjir)... yg bias lo andelin cuma strangers di tengah jalan dan di kampung2 sekitar yg bahu-membahu saling nolongin orang... (gue bener2 enjoy the experience of solidarity among the people around, baik di kantor maupun di jalan2) Sayang banget lo gak di sini, i bet you'll gonna love the experience too..." - Ken

Ken, thanks for your live reportage about the flood in Jakarta. Well, first, it's great to hear that you are all right. Secondly, I am very thrilled to hear such a light spirited voice from you and the people around you in such an inconvenient time. And that's what I am about to write now.

As you have probably known, I have been thinking and reminiscing about Jakarta for quite some time now… actually ever since I was away from it. The city is always in my heart and is the image of home for me. I love the traffic messiness and the informality of the urban structures (highways, pollutions, warungs, reckless oplets, metrominis, ojeks, etc…). But I became a little bit sad about Jakarta every time I encounter stories about major urban developments in other metropolitan cities in the region such as Kualalumpur, Singapore, Hongkong, Shanghai, Tokyo… It seems that they all just keep moving forward, keep upgrading, building great urban spaces and architecture, and leaving us behind. We keep hearing flashy things about KL with it’s Petronas Towers in all kind of news, books, and magazines. And now they have the brand new Putrajaya with state-of-the arts convention center, offices, and starries hotels. Singapore is making plan for first ever Frank Gehry’s building in Asia. Hongkong always vibrant and filled with iconic towers. Shanghai has been “hulk”ing for almost a decade now. Tokyo, the largest and most populated place on earth, is a classic story of a relatively success megapolitan.

Not until I received your email that I realized that Jakarta’s strength is actually in her people. She is a city that has gone through many difficult times. Therefore it produced strong and resilient people called Jakartans. In my time there within the past ten years, I witness the heroic daily life of these Jakartans. They have to endure daily heavy city traffic, tough environments, live through riots, big or small, and even started a revolution for the whole country. Let’s think about that for a second, a revolution that overthrew a 32-year old military regime! That’s what the Jakartans are capable for, a heroic daily life and once in a while, a revolution!

That’s the respect I have for Jakarta and it’s people now. So you are exactly right Ken. You have only been there for less than a year now and you already got the Jakartan spirit. Tetap semangat!