A lot of my friends have remarked upon visiting Jakarta that it is a polluted and a heinous traffic nightmare. Although there remarks are warranted, nonetheless, Jakarta is a fascinating city to visit and more especially if your interests are in museums and the colonial days of Jakarta under the Dutch occupation. Thankfully, the Indonesian Heritage Society has helped, and in an extremely large way, to preserving the grand old buildings of bygone days. Much of old Jakarta has changed little in appearance since the founding years. One of my favourite places is Sunda Kelapa, the old port, where these days you can still see the Phinisi schooners unloading their goods from distant islands in the archipelago. But it’s not only the old port that will hold your fascination. There are 57 museums in the Greater Jakarta area and each one well worth visiting even if only to admire the grandeur Dutch architecture.
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Getting to know Aceh is like peeling an onion, an Acehnese once said as a matter of fact.
“There are so many layers — peeling off one layer after another is a tearful experience.”
In the long course of this country’s history, Aceh, which is rich in natural resources, has ironically had more than its share of problems. In the late 1940s, founding father Sukarno placated Aceh, which had helped the young nation, by promising it greater autonomy as a special province.
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Picture Jakarta during the Dutch colonial era and imagine how people were tried and punished at the time. You can visualize it from the balcony of the Jakarta History Museum in Kota Tua, the Old Town quarter, in West Jakarta. The building was originally the Stadhuis, or the City Hall, of the colonial period. Today, if you stand on the balcony and face north, you will see the gray stone square below you, known as Taman Fatahillah. The square honors Fatahillah, the commander of the Muslim Demak army which conquered Sunda Kalapa on June 22, 1527. He renamed the coastal Sunda kingdom Jayakarta, or Town of Triumph, after defeating its king. When the Dutch eventually took control, they renamed the area Batavia.
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A nautical journey tracing historical spice trade sites in North Maluku will plow ahead despite increasing tension in the province. North Maluku provincial assistant Hartoyo Kaliman said the trip, which is part of Visit Indonesia Year 2008, would contribute to peace building in the area. Hartoyo said the six-day expedition, which kicked off Sunday, would serve as a promotional gimmick for the province, which is currently facing mounting tension over the October 2007 gubernatorial election.
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Archaeologists are worried a plan to construct new housing in Pasir Eurih village in the Tamansari district of Bogor will destroy 70 historical sites from an ancient, mysterious Sudanese kingdom. According to research conducted by students of Pakuan University in Bogor and the University of Indonesia in Depok, 33 of the sites are worship pillars or buildings. The relics are scattered over 500 hectares of land in the village. Archeologist Agus Arismunandar of the University of Indonesia said his team had strong evidence the historical finds dated back to the ancient Sudanese Padjajaran kingdom that ruled over the area during the megalithic period. There is writing on one of the sites that is similar to those at the ruins of the Pakuan Padjajaran kingdom in Batu Tulis, Bogor.
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While Raden Ajeng Kartini is known as a heroine of women’s emancipation, other national heroines were freedom fighters, such as Cut Nyak Dien of Aceh. In Maluku, a brave young woman took up arms along with her male peers against colonizers of the Dutch era. She was Martha Christina Tiahahu. Christina was born in Abubu village, Nusalaut Island, on Jan. 24, 1800. At the age of 17, she joined the guerrilla unit commanded by her father, Kapitan Paulus Tiahahu, in the resistance movement on Nusalaut Island. Their unit also backed Kapitan Pattimura, who led the People’s Army on Saparua Island in the Waisisil War against the Dutch.
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In Bandung, West Java, Dewi Sartika is better known as a jumbled road of traffic jams, sidewalk vendors and shopping centers. At a point halfway down the road to the south of the town square lies the squalid public minivan terminal of Kebon Kalapa, with its dirty puddles and bad odor on rainy days. Kautaman Istri, a girls’ school set up by Dewi Sartika during the Dutch colonial era, is now the name of a small street near the terminal. Both names are also used for several alleyways that meander around the school, which still stands strong today.
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“Come, come … please. You see Museum Kereta (carriage museum),” were the words of a guide at Yogyakarta’s Kraton (palace). He was most insistent that the visitor to the Kraton also came to the nearby Museum Kereta. The walk to the museum is not far and visitors may benefit from the shade created by the kraton walls. On arrival, a huddle of men chatting pause from their conversations and cigarettes to offer warm greetings and collect small entrance fees (Rp 3,000 and, if you want to use a camera, a further Rp 1,000 is required). Once inside, a visually impressive display awaits.
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“Berbilah-bilah rencong/dengan sarung dan tangkai berkilap/tak lupa kami selipkan/pertanda /martabat/dan keagungan/betapa pedih hati kami/dari Jakarta/kalian hujamkan mata rencong itu/tepat di jantung kami” (Blades of rencong/with their shiny sheaths and handles/we do not forget to put on/as a sign/of dignity and greatness/how our hearts bleed/from Jakarta/you stab the rencong/right into our hearts.) The poem is among Acehnese poet Fikar W. Eda’s favorites and he regularly reads it at events across the country. Aside from “Rencong”, Fikar is noted for other works like “Seperti Belanda” (Like the Dutch, 1996), which dwells on the “greed” of Jakarta. Both “Seperti Belanda” and “Rencong” point out the sadness felt by many Acehenese for what they see as the unjust and arbitrary treatment of the Indonesian government. Aceh experienced almost three decades of bloody conflict which ended only when the government signed a peace deal with the Free Aceh Movement rebels.
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Mount Merapi’s eruption in 1006 was also regarded as the cause of the demise of the Mataram-Hindu Kingdom and the shift to East Java. Experts continue to propound their own theories and reasons for the demise of the kingdom. There are four possible theories proposed by archaeologists. In the first hypothesis, N.J. Krom says that the demise was caused by an epidemic forcing people to seek a new place to live.
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