Jalan Jaksa Under Threat
Mar 28th, 2008, in Society, by RossRoss fears that Jalan Jaksa in Jakarta is going to suffer re-development.
Jalan Jaksa at Risk?
Last month I had a chat with an expat on Jalan Jaksa who told me he’d seen plans to develop the famous little street, including a huge hypermarket on its corner with Jalan Wahid Hasyim.
I should state at this point that the talk occurred during my once-a-week afternoon visit, when – contrary to wishful thinking among hostiles – I have three or four beers and head for home before nightfall. So it was a clear-headed chat, not one of those rambling discourses that ensue as the night rolls towards chucking-out time.
Jalan Jaksa.
Has anyone else heard of this proposed development?
It would change the character of Jaksa, which is one of the few places in town where non-rich bules can enjoy a beer at a reasonable price. A Carrefour-type emporium would have a knock-on effect, bring in glossy catering outlets and quite possibly squeeze the little cafes out of business. Even now, there is a quite posh hotel under construction at the far end. Doesn’t Jakarta have enough such plush institutions- let’s leave Jaksa for the back-packing kids to save their pennies at.
I have to admit a certain fondness for the street. On my first night in Jakarta, quite a number of years ago, I was dropped there by a taxi-driver to whom I’d managed to communicate my need for cheap accommodation. As I was about to enter the Hotel Jhody, – a snip at Rp 40,000 per night – a small man rushed up and warned me not to waste my money.
“My place very good, only Rp 20,000, free coffee in the morning!”
Too weary from a twenty-hour plus flight to argue, I accepted this gracious offer, and ultimately found myself in a room with a grotty mattress on the floor, a broken window and a fan whose power was waning even as I switched it on. I also of course had to figure out how to use a kamar mandi (Indonesian bathroom). Not a great start, nor did the free coffee materialise the next day!
However, I followed my nose and discovered the Hotel Tator, not five-star (Rp 45,000 per night) but clean, and a real bed, and honest, helpful staff. Although too timid to venture far, Jaksa became my home for just over three weeks, till I got more permanent accommodation.
During those twenty four days, I didn’t have a TV in my room, but hardly needed it. The pavements beyond the Tator, and the establishments which crowded along them, afforded me not only visual entertainment but also useful insights into what lay in store for a “new kid on the block”.
Thus, while aware that time does not stand still, with new joints opening up and others undergoing regular re-incarnations in new guises, I’d be sad to see Jalan Jaksa transformed into a glitzy, upmarket shopping centre.
It has been said, by back-packers passing through, that the milieu there evokes images of Mel Gibson’s movie, “The Year of Living Dangerously”. I’m not sure if that is an accurate impression, for I was elsewhere in 1965, but Jaksa IS different. Can an “atmospheric preservation order” be enacted as one of SBY’s lasting legacies?
148 Comments on “Jalan Jaksa Under Threat”
-
ausdag says:
Rima and Timdog,
Thanks for the comments. Like I said, I don’t necessarily get offended (except in circumstances similar to what Oigal describes – I really detest that ‘wet smile’) -and that’s the bit so many don’t seem to understand, hence the title of my post.
-
greg redden says:
Came to this site trying to trace what Wimar Witoelar is writing these days….wow!
Found Jaksa …first ate there nearly 30 years ago….lived nearby for about 6 years and loved the vibes, cheap beer and eclectic company…yep! found a better English teaching job on the street too!
……still try to get there every 6 months or so…Few years back drove the length of it dressed in a Santa suit atop my car throwing sweets; wife driving and sons in the back enjoying the fun!
Found “Bule”….I always refer to myself as a Bule ..and I sport a trophy that suggests I am officially – and competitively – “Gila” as well….it’s a bit like Aussie’s use of “bas….”; there are good ones and bad ones….but generally unaggressive / unoffensively used (heard that it actually refers originally to a cheesey b.o. attributed to foreigners??)…
suspect I know a few co-bloggers…..anybody help me with a report on Pak WIMAR’S latest ventures?? I am a fan of the man…
-
Janma says:
my ex and several expat friends use to tell tales to each other, while i listen, and I quote ‘those incompetent locals’
and that sentence above should be followed by:
that term was used a lot in several variations, incompetent locals, stupid local men, local ayams etc.
it wasn’t pretty but that is what i remembered from my experience.I really don’t see how the word ‘Local’ is bad? If I am from a city in Australia say, and then I go to another town, also in australia, the people in that place are local….. it’s not an insult…. I think it’s fairly obvious that the insulting part is the ‘incompetent’ ‘stupid’ and ‘ayam’ terms that are qualifying the term ‘Local’.
-
Hilarious!
-
@ Janma: no, the word local is not bad. It’s how you say it that makes it bad, like how you say bule. but the discussion about bule is finished, i guess. so let’s just discuss jalan jaksa.
-
Ross, can you be more specific to give more details about the Jalan Jaksa Redevelopment Programme? Three quarter of your entry was about your experience there, rather than about the proposed plan. Or you could let me know the link so I could read more about it. I’m more interested in discussing Jalan Jaksa from the urban design point of view and I would like to know what IAI (Ikatan Arsitek Indonesia) members will say about it. So far there was no Jalan Jaksa thread on the mailing list, and I begin to wonder whether they were aware of this plan, or plain ignorant, or this is just an exaggerated subject?
Anyone?
-
I don’t give a flying hubungan kelamin about Jalan Jaksa….. !!!
Local has no racial connotations, whereas bule does…. But fine….. I’ll stop, this bule thing has all been said before. 😉 -
“flying hubungan kelamin” 😀
I don’t use the phrase in English so had never thought about how I might translate it into Indonesian…still smiling as I think of all the situations that are going to arise in the near future where I might just be able to slip such a parting shot into…
thanks
-
Bule is Pakle’s wife. You know, Bu Le, Pak Le ..the Javanese words.
Let us proceed to the moment of enlightenment..
-
Ross says:
G’day Oigal.
Alas, my experience with stores here has been far from felicitous. I won’t bore you withthe details, as it would only offer vicarious delight to my foes. But the end result was
that I now stick to email orders or empat mata sales. The latest one is sold out but
meanwhile you can order Westerling’s Legacy or Maid in Singapore from
morfinybooks@yahoo.ca. Mind you, how we deliver it, without you revealing your secret identity, is the challenging part – have you a possible conduit?
—–
So the majestic lord of the forest is upset because I suggest he is guilty of
extravagantly lying. Yet he stated quite clearly that I had not read Red Pram. This was tantamount to calling me a liar, since in previous posts I made it plain that I found what I had read unimpressive.
On what evidence did Perfidious Pohon base his accusation – none, for he had none. He lied maliciously to do me down, such is his adoration of the late literary commissar. . Having been caught out, he responds with threats to further denigrate me on his blog, to which my attention was only drawn when a former colleague advised me that some dork with a name like Tree-Hugger was emoting. The Tree could have mentioned on this blog that he was about to attack, but that would have been courteous, so why should I expect that?
The book, which I was given some years ago, is entitled Tales from Djakarta. I’m not
wasting time giving more details- it will do the Tree-Chopper good to go into a bookshop and look for it. Might find something other than lefty tracts to draw on.
It’s widely available.
——-
Oh, yeah, Achmad, take your time. I must admit that, for me too, discussing something
practical with you lessened the dialectic blood-lust, though I see you are all emotional again over my comments on the poofters.
Anyway, looks like the Haunted Tree is usurping your role as my bete noire for the time being. He seems a gnarled trunk.
When you are ready, please advise me a few days in advance so I can adjust my busy schedule (apart from minor matters like work and social life, I have many other fish to fry)
Janma -are you withdrawing your kind offer? -
dude, i am not at all upset. to be very honest with you, i am upset with a whole lot of other things, you’re the very least of my concern. with all due respect, i’d rather describe you as an amusement rather than annoyance.
i don’t make threats, please don’t lower me to that degree of inconvenience. you’re not worth one.
for the record, let me say that i don’t think Pramoedya Ananta Toer is worth one iota of admiration for his literary skills, i am not too fond of his chosen vocab. I personally think he’s the most overrated literary figure of the 20th century. I respect him for he had brought a lot and contributed a lot to the world of literature in this country.
Mr. Ross McKay, you, obviously, i think hell of a lot less of. So i think you should keep your mouth shut. But since this is a free world, and i have some free time, i think i’ll amuse you.
it is not a threat that i will talk of you the honorable Mr. Ross McKay. I promise, that despicable worthless scum such as yourself, will find me talking about you. if anything, because i think you’re amusing. occasionally, i find you more entertaining than my share of orgasmic experience. it is not a threat. i do not think we need to eradicate rats.
let me say it again, i am not at all upset. if anything, my highest praise to Indonesiamatters and patung, for i appreciate him in publishing and not censoring my remarks. it is the one bit that we could agree on. This is fun.
Ross, you’re a dick. an educated dick, perhaps, but a dick nevertheless. and if there’s a publisher out there stupid enough to publish your work, no wonder you could only afford to hang around jaksa for all its worth.
Ross, i’m here, always here, will always be here. all yours.
PS: your lofty words for my nickname, i don’t even get them. we can start calling each other names if you so wish. I will start by calling you proper.
Mr. Ross McKay, you’re a dick.
-
Achmad Sudarsono says:
Not emotional, Ross, just telling it like it is.
-
“lihat, ada orang bule tuh!” means, “look, there’s a caucasian!” something I hear all the time children say in Indonesia (villages or jakarta)
You see, that kind of comment for me is one of the most annoying things in the world. Immediately someone nudges their child and tells them to stare at me with that comment my insides churn! I feel like something in a zoo….. “look at the albino monkey!” How is that ok? What planet are you from???? If I went around europe saying to my kids, ‘hey look there’s a wog!” or around america saying “check out the nigga’s will ya!” They’d put me away.
Ross, I’m still up for it love, I just sharpened my samurai piece. 😉
-
oh, Ross, I mean your second in the japanese context, where if you shame yourself, I cut your head off to save your honor.
-
You folks, with some exceptions, are a very quaint crew. How come you get into such a tizzy when you hear views that are very widely held in the non-Ivory Tower world beyond your cloistered left-libbery?
Have a bunch of you been programmed like those Stepford Wives, not in the sense of being immaculate mannequins excelling in banal pleasantries (obviously) but in being incapable of reasonable consideration of points of view anywhere to the right of Oprah?Exposure to conservatism, whether the religious leaders’ mildly put version or my slightly more robust style, seems to blow your fuses.
Even Janma, who has humour and grace, is all uptight on behalf of the beings referred to in the other thread. I find it baffling, especially those who think I just utter good sense to rile you up. Take a walk into the wider world! Yes, most contributors to this blog are leftish, but do you really imagine most Indonesians share your prejudices? Don’t the R.C. bishops, the Muslim ustads, the Protestant leaders, have larger followings than IM? And a lot of secular folk who don’t get into worship much are conservative too.
Incidentally, although Achmad and the Tree-Thing (who is as inarticulate as he is ill-mannered) are exquisitely awful, who was the foul moron (in the other thread) who wished a pestilence upon my children? That is really low-scum standard and something I wouldn’t do or say in respect of any of you.
Re Jaksa- I raised this post-point to ask for extra info. I have none myself. The guy I heard the rumour from is a level-headed man but he too hoped it might just be idle chatter.
============
-
just to state for the record, that i am quite happy to be put slightly to the right of Oprah.
So long as not under, she looks a bit too heavy for my build.
Weird as it is, i might have to agree with Ross just a little bit (assuming that left and right are still left and right as it was). but then again, just to be in the same group is a bit disconcerting 🙂
I love the way you keep jumping to change the subject whenever pressed for a proper discussion. we should just pick a subject to discuss, you know, a good discussion with the gloves off.
but then again, perhaps it’s futile if you’re only up to for an insult fest.
this is fun
-
@janma: I thought we dropped this subject already?
whether you like it or not, being different than everyone else will always most likely people to stare at you. yes, like in a zoo.
i don’t like it when people here look at me funny because i am not of the same color, but what can i do.
for you, in indonesia, at least people stare at you but think you are cool cos you are orang barat (am i politically correct now?)
for me here in europe, they look at me as if I am less than them cos i’m colored. especially when i was still living in new zealand (i was frequently called nigga as a child living there) and in the US.
but hey, sh*t happens. it’s life, humans are stupid that way.
padahal bule atau coklat atau hitam, kalau ditusuk pisau, darah yang keluar sama saja. merah.i’m dropping this bule subject once and for all.
-
Ross,
Few lessons in basic logic and reality for you.
Logic: alot of people holding a certain opinion doesn’t give it validity. People once thought the world was flat.
Reality: it’s a bit of a hung jury on the gay issue. Given that free thinkers (like many on this post), have led human progress, they’re pitching for a shift towards wider acceptance of gayness.
What’s your problem with adults having consenting sex, anyway ? Don’t see you getting all hot, flustered, and excited about 50-year old Westerners with 16-year old bar girls. What, you think those clerics don’t think that’s perversion ?
-
just so you won’t say i don’t give you proper notice Mr. McKay . there’s a nice chart for you over at my place.
-
Why don’t you ask Kuku at Jakchat whats going on. He lives there and has been harping on about the Careefour development for the past 4 or 5 months.
-
KukuKaChu’s nose is buried in the ass of the 15-year old Kampung girl he’s paying/sexually harassing to be his office assistant.
-
*Whining* Can we back on discussing what happens to Jl. Jaksa? Seems like no one really cares. Except Ross (?).
-
Achmad says that this forum is occupied by ‘free thinkers.’ What does that mean? Thoughts free from tolerance of any point of view other than their own pinko prejudices? Very characteristic of liberals, this refusal even to consider evidence presented in conflict with their own biases.
As for the Tree-Thing, I’m not sure why he’s so puffed up about ‘revealing’ my ‘secret identity,’ – shock, horror, imagine, Ross exposed as being Ross – since many of you knew me already and for the rest, it may well boost my book sales. Maybe Tree-Thing will stop hiding behind his peculiar pseudonym and post under his own real name. Maybe Achmad too will drop his increasingly contorted pretences – but don’t hold your breath, comrades.
Yes, what about Jaksa? More concern for pervs than preservation of a good cheap place to enjoy a beer- that’s another black mark for ‘free-thinkers.’
. -
Ross,
Sorry ’bout this, not just dropping the contorted postures, but insult duel, if you don’t mind will have to wait a bit. Something’s come up in the real world.
Cool ?
-
Tata says:
Why is Achmad Sudarsono still yapping about the inappropriateness of the word ‘Bule’? My boyfriend is a Bule, and there ain’t nothing wrong in my Indonesian eyes to call him that.
Might this be a case of someone who has nothing better to do and over analyze a word just so that he can sound like a smart ass? … Just wondering….
An 100% pure bred Indo girl.
-
Tata,
If you read the posts it’s all there. Yes, it’s true, there are bigger problems. “Bule” is a racial word. If you don’t mind being called “Si Coklat” (if you are coklat), no problem. But words matter to some people, ya ‘cok ?
-
timdog says:
And, as been stated above, the insulting – or otherwise – nature of a word is not necessarily apparant to the user of the word if that word. It for the person described rather than the person describing to decide whether a word is offensive or not…
I’m sorry, but if some caucasians find the word bule – which as Achmad says is a racial term – offensive, then who are Indonesians to tell them that they’re wrong?As was also mentioned above, sixty years ago a majority of white Americans would have used the word “nigger” to describe black people, not intending it to be an insult, but simply as a term of description…
As I said, I am not particularly bothered by “bule”, but those who are have a perfectly legitimate complaint.
-
trust me Ross, I’d die before i care about who you are. i only say that cause you’re so vehemently educated, just making sure you get the proper respect you deserve.
Comment on “Jalan Jaksa Under Threat”.
Copyright Indonesia Matters 2006-2025
Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Contact
Folks,
@ Ross — you’ve been reasonable and fair about the rules of engagement, so my desire to insult you has lessened — not a bad opening tactic.
@ All – will post my first broadside sometime in the next week, but it may or may not be Saturday — stay tuned.