First Impressions

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The problem with blogging from Indonesia is that the instructions for posting always show up in Bahasa Indonesia… but thankfully after a few missteps, I get to share some info on the fascinating city of Jakarta.

My first introduction to the city of Jakarta actually occurred before I even touched the ground, as we entered the smog layer of the atmosphere where the sky turned from a brilliant blue to a brownish haze. Finally getting a chance to hit the streets and make my way into the city explained it all. This urban sprawl of 9 to 15 million (depending on who you ask) is a city of cars! Apparently the public transit system in Jakarta is poorly done, and many a deal to improve the transit system has fallen through due to shady business (case in point - there is the skeleton of a monorail system in downtown corp that remains unfinished because “the money dried up”). Without adequate bussing, everyone seems to take to the streets in cars (every second one seems like a taxi), motorcycles that cut in and out of traffic (and seem to be the mode of choice, and the fastest since you can squeeze between cars) and bajbajs, imported tri-wheel vehicles from India that are always followed by a thick plume of diesel smoke. With all these cars on the road, what should take 15 minutes turns easily into an hour, as you inch through the streets. And though you could walk some places far easier than driving, its sometimes too risky - the streets (and even some sidewalks) are literally sometimes built only for cars, trucks and motorcycles.

Thankfully during my first two weeks I got to see some expert driving while I was a guest at the LEAD Project Manager’s (my boss’s) house. It was great to stay with him and his family while I got oriented to the city, or at least tiny parts of it. As an added bonus, staying with him (a British citizen) and his Indonesian wife provided me with a wealth of insight into the current state of this 250 million people nation. Indonesia, still in transition after 35 years of authoritarian rule, is still dealing with real issues of corruption, of recent ethnic and religious violence in some of its regions, and is grappling with an issue that Canadians know only too well: how do you make a national identity out of component citizen groups who have little in common and pull apart naturally? Thus far, politics have shifted towards decentralization and new governance structures throughout the island provinces of the country. However, decentralization itself has exposed new susceptibilities to corruption and public funds misuse. In many cases since 2000, aligning new political units has led to social strife. In some of the worst cases, in provinces like North Maluku, South and Central Sulawesi for example, the gerrymandering of some district governments created situations where former religious majorities (namely Christian) became minorities vis-à-vis their Muslim counterparts. Needless to say, in those provinces the tensions exploded into attacks and retribution against each side.

The great thing about being in the country right now is getting to watch how the country deals with its recent democracy through the current presidential election, set to be held in early July. There are three slates of candidates for president and vice president, all still strongly tied to the military, and two of which actually boast former army generals accused of gross human rights violations. Needless to say, a recent national proposal to have the candidates debate human rights was turned down - by all parties.

I’m going to save my work experiences for my next blog so that I can give the program I’m working for full attention. It’s a fascinating initiative by the UNDP, and being watched throughout Southeast Asia to see if it might work elsewhere. I may even get the opportunity to join in on the launch of a new Government of Indonesia national justice strategy launch - I’ll be sure to throw up some pictures with the President if I do!

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