Jakarta, Part One

I arrived safely in Jakarta on Monday.  The city is massive, confusing, loud.  I openly admit I wasn’t looking forward to leaving Bali.  But I knew I would have to in order to conduct my research with the Corporate Sector – almost all of it is located in Jakarta.  So here I am.

 



In this example, "across the street" is actually across a canal as well

And so far so good.  Many people (almost everyone in fact) in Bali would give me the “too bad” look when I told them I was shortly to be leaving for Jakarta.  I had allowed that to cloud my judgment to an extent.  I was also intimidated because I was told it would not be a good idea to have a motorcycle here – it’s that much crazier than Denpasar (and WAY crazier than Solo) so it just wouldn’t be safe.  It’s hard to put into words the sense of freedom one loses when no longer having reliable access to transportation.  Yes Jakarta has public transit, but honestly, who knows where I would end up with my limited Bahasa and general ignorance of this giant metropolis?  I also distinctly remember, from my previous journey to Jakarta – (for finger-printing, via an 8-hour train ride from Solo in April 2009, under the cloud of the worst illness I have ever experienced, most likely from food poisoning) – witnessing hundreds of people riding on the elevated train.  Notice I said “ON” the train, not “IN” the train.  Yes there were hundreds of people, 20 metres above the street, riding on top of the train.  So with that I bid a fair No Thank You to the Trans-Jakarta public transit system!

 

My official plan is to get comfortable with the general vicinity in which I live and work (I still do not have permanent accommodation – that’s the plan for this afternoon) and gradually find a few places that I enjoy and can get to without too much hassle.  The plan has gone to pot so far, as yes, I got lost on my way home from work yesterday.  The streets all look the same, they are poorly signed (if at all) and nothing makes sense to me.  I found myself asking random strangers how to find my home (luckily I remembered what it’s called and also the name of the street it’s on – or I would still be wandering the streets – “Hey why is that sweaty Bule crying?”).  Remember from posts in my previous blog here: www.solodiaries.blogspot.com, the rule in Indonesia is that you must ask as many people as possible for directions because for them to say “I don’t know” is culturally unacceptable; as a result they will completely lie to your face.  It’s not a bad thing; it’s just is the way it is.  Only once you have several people telling you generally the same thing can you have even an ounce of trust in the information.  I did eventually find my way home, soaked to the bone with sweat of course – the humidity makes it feel close to 40 degrees Celsius all the time.

 

Is this a construction site destroyed by recent flooding?

Jakarta itself is home to about 11 million people, but with its larger suburban area included, it actually becomes the 2^nd largest urban population in the world (after Tokyo, Japan).  In typical Indonesian fashion, which eschews simple ‘first letter’ acronyms for elaborate created words, this larger urban area is called “Jabodetabek” – which is created using the names of the regions surrounding the city:  Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, & Bekasi.  The urban area spreads far beyond these regions and the population of Jabodetabek is estimated to be approaching 30 million people!

 

The city is extremely spread out – the central business district (or “CBD”) where I will spend most of my time, is massive; and Jakarta is not pedestrian-friendly by any stretch.  Every building is completely separate from the street on which it’s situated.  It’s actually difficult to describe, but I’ll try:  If I was at building A on Java Street and wanted to go to building B on the other side of Java Street, I would have wait at the main entrance of the building, use the building concierge or security detail to hail a taxi, navigate a series of traffic medians, one-way streets, strange traffic lights, and intense heat, and then go through an intense security screening just to get to the main entrance of the building across the ‘street.’  I’ve heard that due to Jakarta’s famous gridlock, this simple journey of a few hundred metres can often take an hour or longer.  Honestly I don’t know who dreamed up the CBD in Jakarta, but it seems it was almost intentionally designed to be difficult, or to keep the people ‘out’ if that makes any sense.

 

Jakarta is also a city with a tumultuous history.  The threat of terrorism and violence is everywhere, so every building has an elaborate security system in place – all vehicles are subject to having their trunk inspected by one security guard, while another uses a mirror to look underneath before they even get near to the entrance of the building.  Then one must pass through a metal detector and give government-issued, non-expired ID to the people at the desk in order to be granted access to the building (luckily my Ontario Driver’s Licence was acceptable as I don’t carry my passport around with me at all times).  All this in an effort to prevent a bombing.  Indeed when I was in Indonesia in 2009, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel here in Jakarta was bombed by a group of hard-line Islamic terrorists.  Luckily, no one was killed, and that was also the last bombing in Jakarta, to my knowledge.  I don’t feel (much) danger today, as the government has cracked down relentlessly on domestic terror groups (a raid recently occurred in my old Solo stomping grounds) and Indonesia seems to have achieved an uneasy peace with itself.

 

And on that note, I will break here, and continue my Jakarta adventure in the next post….

Why am I here?

People are probably wondering exactly what it is I’m supposed to be doing in Indonesia.  This will be my attempt to explain it as best I can.

 

First thing first - Why does VSO even operate here?

 

Indonesia is the largest economy in Southeast Asia, a ‘middle income’ country, with rapid economic growth; a young, educated population (240 million, the 4^th most populous nation on Earth); vast natural resource wealth, and a relatively stable government.  Things seem to be trending in the right direction, bottom line.

 

Official stats peg the percentage of the population as “officially” poor at 18.6%.  It’s important to mention that percentage translates to roughly 45 million people, or ~10 million more than the population of Canada.  However, “official” poverty is defined as those living on less than $1.25 / day.  Have you ever tried living on $1.25 / day?  It’s not easy.  However these numbers are only part of the puzzle, and mask a most unsettling reality in Indonesia.  The percentage of the population that is “officially” near-poor is 46.2% (or 112 million people).  Near-poor is defined as living on less than $2 / day.  In reality that means that 68% Indonesian population (165 million people!) lives on less than $2 / day and a significant chunk of those that are not officially poor or near-poor are hovering millimetres above these lines, dangerously susceptible to external shocks like natural disaster, economic shocks, and climate change.  Additionally, the top 5% of the Indonesian population controls 20% of the wealth, concentrated largely in Jakarta.

 

VSO Indonesia used to operate in 4 program areas:  Health, Disability, Livelihoods, and Education.  Because of the notoriously fickle Indonesian government, VSO was forced to shut down many programs in many areas of the country.  Now it operates predominantly in NTT (East Nusa Tunggara) and South Sulawesi provinces, and mainly in Livelihoods.  VSO globally has launched a Climate Change program area and that relates extremely well to Indonesia as subsistence farmers and marginalized populations are particularly susceptible to potential damage from climate change.

 

So VSO launched a strategic review of its programs and has come up with a new country strategy.  It will have 2 premier programs in addition to its Livelihoods and Climate Change development work.  These new programs can be grouped together under what’s called “Active Citizenship.”  In short, VSO wants to mobilize the vast human resources in this country (which has a history and culture of activism, engagement, and volunteering) to assist in the poorer areas of the country.  It has 2 programs, one called “Inter-Island Volunteering” where skilled Indonesians travel to poorer regions of the country to share skills, and “IndoVols” where skilled Indonesians volunteer internationally (much like I have).

 

In order for VSO to access the right skills needed to increase development capacity, they recognize that engagement with the Corporate Sector is crucial.  And that, after a lengthy explanation, is where I come in!

 

I am here to research opportunities and challenges associated with Employee Volunteering in Jakarta.  I will create a baseline, find out what’s happening currently, and advise VSO on how to best engage with the corporate sector (development organizations and business still speak vastly different languages).

 

[My Randstad colleagues will be amused to learn that yes, I’m building a database, qualifying contacts, making cold calls, and trying to book meetings with companies.  It’s like I’m a new consultant all over again].

 

So that, in a nutshell, is what I’m doing with VSO Indonesia.  I know from a development standpoint it’s not as desperate sounding as HIV in Africa, or even my disability project from Solo in 2009, but having said that, I believe firmly in VSO’s participative approach, the sustainable results that can be generated, and the good work that it does.  If you’ve gotten this far, I’m going to ask you to go just a bit further.  This is the point where I ask you to contribute to this cause, and supporting me, here:

 

My Personal Fundraising Page

I thank you in advance for your generous support.

...For more information:

www.vsointernational.org

www.vsoindonesia.org

www.cusointernational.org

Thaddeus

Meet Thaddeus.  I don’t know how I came to give him (her?) this name; it just popped into my head.

 

Thaddeus is my roommate, one of several.  This is strictly a logistical arrangement; we aren’t friends, and there certainly isn’t any funny business going on.  Our partnership is based on mutual trust, respect, and yes, distance.

 

Thaddeus lives in my ‘kitchen,’ which is basically a separate room, at the back of my Kos.  It features a sink, a couple of cabinets, a strange, creepy laundry area (I know it’s a laundry area because the tile floor stops, it drops a few inches, there is a ‘drain’ – really just a hole – in the floor, and 2 clotheslines draped across it), and yes, several roommates, most of whom live up high, where I like them.  I also store my meagre food items in this room – cereal, peanut butter, bread, UHT milk (gross), along with a couple of random dishes.  The only things I do in this room are brush my teeth, and wash my dishes.  Thaddeus lives in the corner next to the sink.  So I hang out with Thaddeus for a few minutes several times per day.

 

In Bali, you’re never far away from nature – it permeates everything.  So I fully expected to have all kinds of roommates no matter what my accommodations.  At home I would flip out if I saw an ant in my house – nature belongs outside, damn it.  But that kind of attitude will just contribute to mental instability in a place like this; you can’t stop it.  You just have to accept that you will have roommates.

 

When I was living in Solo, I had a roommate, similar to Thaddeus, who actually lived in the little corner created by my bed, wall, and headboard.  This will be shocking to many readers as I have been world-famous for my fear & dislike of eight-legged creatures of any kind.

 

However I also do not kill.  Anything.  With the exception of mosquitoes, and possibly earwigs.  So I am forced to make arrangements with my roommates – you stay on your side of the bed, and I’ll stay on mine.  This roommate had high integrity, as I don’t think I ever saw him move more than a few millimetres one way or another.  His home was, after all, an elaborate killing machine, a trap for unsuspecting victims, useless if he went on a road trip to oh, say, my ear.

 

My Solo roomie and I lived in perfect harmony for the entire time I stayed in Solo, over 4 months.  When I pulled my sheets off the bed to have them laundered I needed to do it with great care, so as not to damage the roomie’s living arrangements.  I actually had a moment where I said good-bye to him when I left; I wished him the best, thought to myself how lucky he (she?) had been to have me.  You see, as soon as I left, the cleaning staff would come in, and, well, you can imagine what would happen.

 

It was such a positive arrangement in fact (I wonder how many mosquitoes he ate before they could give me Dengue Fever?) that I practically embraced Thaddeus when I discovered him.  Just next to his web, there is a little hole in the wall from which tiny ants come and go.  Thaddeus is having a field day – there are dozens of little ant corpses under him.  It’s a feast; he has literally doubled in size since I have arrived.  So of course I am pleased by Thaddeus’ presence; he helps keep the ants at bay and away from my food.  Harmony in Nature; Symbiotic Relationships.  Life is good.

 

...But that was yesterday.

 

This morning, Thaddeus was gone.  Our unspoken rule – simply “stay there” – was broken, along with my trust.  Why would Thaddeus leave his smorgasbord?  Why would he threaten the delicate balance we had achieved?  What if he ends up somewhere he is less welcome, like my suitcase, wardrobe, toilet, or ear?  I think Thaddeus got greedy, having grown up in a world of plenty.  He thinks every home he builds will provide him with an ant smorgasbord.  Thaddeus also didn’t think he needed my protection.  Well let me tell you something Thaddeus, if you’re watching:  I will be less accommodating if we meet again.  I feel betrayed; I no longer trust you.  You better stay hidden, away from me and my things, until I go.  Beware the Bule.

Solo Bali Bule

Well I made it.  After 36 hours of travel, I am finally in Bali. 

 

Things are just as I remember them, and also completely different.  The Balinese are still warm, hospitable people; the beach is still beautiful; the traffic is still completely insane.  Different this time however, is that I’m on my own.  Last time I arrived in Bali for my VSO adventure, there were 9 other volunteers arriving on the same day.  We bonded through shared experience, all of us fish out of water.  I still think of those 9 people as friends for life, even if only on Facebook for the most part, as we’re scattered around the world.

 

This morning I awoke to a dog barking, refreshed after marathon travel (and I’m not a good travel sleeper, so I was basically running on airplane food alone – not a good state).  Shortly after I awoke however, I found myself sad.

 

I couldn’t figure out why – but it took me a good hour to get myself together and figure out a plan of what to do today.  VSO always gives one ‘free day’ when people arrive to acclimatize, fight off jet-lag, etc.  My free day is just me, myself, and I this time around – strikingly different from the group of 10 last time.  I quickly realized I’m on my own, in an unfamiliar part of Denpasar, with no transportation, and still unsure what my placement is going to look like when it gets going.  Finally, tired of feeling sorry for myself, I picked up a pen & paper and made a list of the things I need (VSO was kind enough to leave me a little welcome package in my kos - loosely translated to ‘apartment’ – bottles of water, bread, jam, tea, a carton of UHT milk, but there is no blanket on the bed, and I still needed to get an Indonesian SIM for my blackberry – yes old school, kids, an actually Blackberry) and decided to go get them.  So, armed with a plan, I was able to hit the shower and get going.  Luckily I was proactive enough to bring a couple of towels with me this time around (as Indonesian towels, believe it or not, repel water rather than absorb it, actually making you wetter after using them rather than drier).  I decided to walk to Sanur (where I arrived on my first trip 4 years ago).  It’s about a 3 km walk, so practically a Lord of the Rings-type quest by Indonesian standards.  Of course my walk was closer to 4km as I went in the exact opposite direction for the first leg of the journey.

 

My temporary accommodations are modest – bed, wardrobe, small night-table, TV (which experience tells me I will literally never turn on), a small kitchen-type room (I can tell it’s a kitchen because it has a sink, and cupboards – and nothing else), and a small bathroom.  Now I know you’re dying to know – did Dan get a western toilet and shower?  The good news is yes – I have both, but still no hot water.  I had forgotten how cold a cold shower can be, even if the water would be lukewarm by Canadian standards, especially at this time of year.  And get this, the height of luxury, an air conditioner!  This makes the mosquitoes easier to manage because I don’t ever need an open window just to survive.  Oh and le piece de resistance – “genuine” Louis Vuitton sheets!  Which I think were probably last washed in 1986.

 

I’m now in Sanur, at a beachside café, with a Bintang beer, and free WiFi.  I’m feeling so much better about this whole thing now, despite the unfortunate ant attack incident…  But that is another story.