The Other Side of Jakarta

I was on my way to Senayan City when I suddenly realized that I once planned to take some photos of the "bedeng" (meaning "slump" in English if I'm not mistaken) behind "Rusun Benhil". So I took a U turn and park my car in the parking area inside the "rusun" (FYI, the term "rusun" is equal to HDB in Singapore).

What was planned to be a short 10 minutes photo hunting turned out to be more than half an hour with most of the time spent chatting with the locals in that area instead of taking photos. They turned out to be quite friendly despite the public opinion that such area is a home for thiefs, street mobs, and jobless people.

They lived in semi permanent houses along side the railway actively used to transport commuters from satelite cities around Jakarta. The train passed by for almost every 5 minutes when I was there, but that is not always the case. It's hard to tell when the next train will pass by due to unreliable schedule of PJKA, a State Owned Company that deals with the railway transportation in Indonesia.

Some of them just moved in and rent the house for around Rp 200,000 - Rp 500,000 per month depends on the size and electricity availability. Local fight among the inhabitants is an ordinary scene in this area, and so does borrowing buckets and sharing food among neighbors. None the less, a 16 years old boy was killed in this area a week ago over a teritory dispute among local street gangs.

Looking at this scene makes you wonder will any of them enjoy the fruit of GDP increase or lower inflation. Although Indonesia is one of very few countries in the world that still experienced positive GDP growth in 2009, such "success" means little for these people for their lives haven't changed much since years ago.