3rd - 6th April 2006
Meulaboh
This was my second trip to Indonesia in two months, but this time round, it wasn't for leisure. I was part of the media entourage that accompanied Foreign Minister George Yeo on his three-day visit to Meulaboh and Jakarta. He was in Meulaboh to join Indonesian officials for the handover of a pier, and for the groundbreaking ceremony at the Cut Nyak Dhien General Hospital. If you've been living under a rock for the past two years, Meulaboh was one of the towns on the west coast of Sumatra that was hit by the tsunami in 2004. The tsunami destroyed much of the town and killed thousands.
There wasn't a direct flight from Singapore to Meulaboh. Therefore, we had to fly in to Medan before transferring to a chartered flight to Meulaboh. When we touched down in Medan, we were led to the VIP room before we boarded our tiny CASA 212/200 plane to Meulaboh. The plane's a 19-seater twin engine turboprop aircraft. Along the way, we flew over the mountain chain that runs along the length of Sumatra. Spectacular views. After an hour later, we were over the town of Meulaboh. From the air, you can still see signs of destruction even though it's been more than a year since the tsunami struck. For instance, if you look at the picture above, you can still see parts of town which is still submerged in water. You can also see how the coastline has been altered by the tsunami. In the picture below, you can see the coastline and how the area beyond that is still flooded.
After circling around the coastline for a while, we finally touched down at Meulaboh's Cut Nyak Dien Airport. Well, the airport was little more than a runway and a couple of single storey buildings. Soon after, we boarded the bus that was to take us around town. Our first stop of the day was the Meulaboh Pier. The new reinforced concrete pier was built to replace the previous pier which was damaged by the tsunami. Along the way, as we drove through town, I can see that progress has been made in rebuilding the town. There's a mini building boom and you can see construction everywhere. But that's only in the part of town that sustained less damage. Closer to the pier, which is the worst-hit part of Meulaboh, there were still signs of destruction everywhere. What used to be houses and other buildings is now a huge expanse of rubble. Strangely enough, amidst all that rubble, a mosque is still standing, though what remains is just a shell. No wonder the religious-minded made such a big deal out of it.
After traveling through the scarred landscape near the pier, we finally reached the pier. The 175m long structure might seem modest but it is to be Meulaboh's key entry point for essential supplies, and it will connect Meulaboh to the Indonesian economy and the global economy. Well, since it was a handover ceremony, of course there was a program to be followed. After a series of performances, one of which had a group of youths dancing at breakneck speed, the various stakeholders gave their speeches and the pier was handed over to the Indonesians.
When that was done, we headed for lunch at another location before going over to the Meulaboh General Hospital. $5 million has been committed for the upgrading of the General Hospital and to provide health-care training for its staff. Well, I didn't manage to get a close look at the hospital because I was already busy writing up on what's happened so far, and trying to file my reports back to the newsroom. I only remembered that it's a plain-looking double-storied building. By then, we were already far behind schedule and so the minister did not stay there for long as well.
The hospital was also our last stop for the day in Meulaboh. From there, we headed back to the airport to catch our flight back to Medan and that's the end of my four hour visit to Meulaboh. But of course, my work has just started. At Meulaboh airport, I was desperately trying to call my office but unfortunately the network was down and I had no choice but to file my story in Medan. Slightly late but better late than never.
At Medan, some of the reporters were going back to Singapore while others like me were heading to Jakarta. Thus, we split ways. Only a reporter from Berita Harian and a photographer from Straits Times went on with me to Jakarta. Some two-and-a-half hours later, we touched down in Jakarta. From the airport, we took a cab to our Four Seasons Hotel in Jalan HR Rasuna Said. The room was great, with an extremely comfortable king-sized bed. I lost no time unpacking and settling in.
The next day was a blur of activities. After breakfast in the hotel, we went over to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs where Minister Yeo called on Indonesia's Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda. After that, I headed to a nasi padang restaurant Natrabu for lunch with the other journalists. After lunch, I went over to Channel NewsAsia's Indonesian office near the Welcome Monument to rest a while before going over to Istana Wapres where Minister Yeo was scheduled to meet Indonesia's Vice-President Jusuf Kalla. After waiting for some time, Minister Yeo finally emerged from the closed-door meeting but instead of seeing Jusuf Kalla, we saw the Coordinating Minister for Economy Boediono instead.
The two men announced that Singapore and Indonesia have agreed to establish a framework agreement to help facilitate the development of special economic zones in Batam and Bintan. After the brief press conference, the local media headed back to Four Seasons Hotel where Minister Yeo was to give us a roundup of the events. After that, it was a mad rush to get my stories out as fast as possible so as not to miss the evening news bulletins. Only when that was done could I finally relax.
After doing an internet search on shopping places in Jakarta, I took a cab to Plaza Indonesia, which is near the Welcome Monument. The monument consists of a 30m high statue of a man and a woman holding up a bouquet of flowers. It was erected in 1962 to welcome athletes participating in the Asian Games. Well, this is just one of the many monuments around Jakarta, but more on that later. My purpose in going to Plaza Indonesia is to get dinner. Well, the shopping mall is pretty upmarket. Not surprising when you consider that it links to the Grand Hyatt Hotel. However, there's a decent collection of food outlets in the basement. After looking around and seeing the usual suspects like McDonald's and Starbucks, I decided to have my dinner at a food court. The food was decent but unspectacular.
After dinner, I walked around the mall before I decided to head out to walk along Jalan Thamrin, which is the main business thoroughfare. Along the way, I passed by the Hard Rock Cafe but there's really nothing much of interest here. Mostly office buildings and some hotels. Therefore, I decided to take a cab back to the hotel.
The next morning, after breakfast, I headed over to the National Monument or Monas, which is a 137m tall obelisk capped by a viewing platform and a gold flame. Along the way, I passed by Plaza Indonesia where I noticed that protesters had already started to gather around the Welcome Monument. Well, I've been reading Jakarta Post and I know that they are protesting against some proposed revisions to the labour law. Anyway, more on that later as I'll be reporting on the protests.
When I finally arrived at Monas, I saw an even larger crowd of protesters, but I decided to let them gather momentum while I do my sightseeing first. Haha. Anyway, it wasn't easy finding my way in to Merdeka Square which surrounds Monas. There weren't any direction signs and I had to walk quite a bit before I finally found the entrance. And because I was walking around the perimeter looking for the entrance, I realize that I've totally underestimated the size of Merdeka Square. It's larger than it looks on the map and it's quite a long walk before I finally arrived at Monas.
Entry to Monas isn't expensive and it also includes entry to the National History Museum in its basement. I decided to head for the museum first. The museum tells the history of Indonesia's independence struggle in 48 dioramas, but there's little else. It wasn't terribly exciting. I decided to head up to the viewing platform.
There's only one way up to the viewing platform and it's via a lift. I can only imagine how long the queue for the lifts must have been during the weekends because as it is, on a Wednesday morning where there was hardly any crowd, I had to wait more than ten minutes to go up. Anyway, the viewing platform wasn't a large area but it has superb though smoggy views across Jakarta. I could also see scores of protesters outside the Merdeka Square and that's where I'm going to head to next.
Indonesian workers protesting near the National Monument
Soon after, I took the lift down and I headed out of the park towards the protesters. Just as it wasn't easy trying to find my way in, I couldn't find my way out. After walking for some time, I finally found my way out and I walked over to the protesters who were along Jalan Medan Merdeka Barat. The road leads to the Presidential Palace at one end. I stopped near the Arjuna Statue and I filed my report from there. Anyway there were scores of protesters. There must have been tens of thousands of them and they were shouting their slogans and waving their banners. But it was relatively peaceful or rather, I didn't see any signs of violence or destruction. After I'm done with my story, I decided to spend the rest of the day exploring Jakarta.
I continued walking along the perimeter of the Merdeka Square, passing by the National Museum, and then the Presidential Palace. It was a long walk, made worse by the fact that the weather was so hot. Eventually I landed up outside Mesjid Istiqlal, the largest mosque in Southeast Asia. Well, normally I would have wanted to enter the mosque as it's open to the public, but I guess the heat must have gotten to me. I decided to head across the street to the beautiful neo-gothic Gereja Katedral (Catholic Cathedral) instead. The Cathedral is distinguished by three latticed ironwork spires which you can just barely make out in the picture below. (It's just beyond the courtyard of the mosque) I went into the Cathedral, and oh my, what a contrast from the hustle and bustle outside. There were a few worshippers and it was very peaceful and serene within the Cathedral. On the second floor, there's a small history museum that exhibits various artifacts and memorabilia related to the church.
From the Cathedral, I took a short walk to the Free Irian Monument, which is essentially a massive statue of a man breaking free from the chains of oppression. At this point in time, it was a toss up between heading to Sunda Kelapa or heading back to the hotel. It wasn't a tough decision to make. I was tired and I decided to head back to the hotel. Sunda Kelapa can wait till the next day. However, my hopes of getting back to the hotel as fast as possible were dashed by the fact that I couldn't get a cab. I guess it's probably due to the demonstrations that were taking place around the area. And so I walked and I walked. I must have walked more than a kilometer when I finally saw a shopping centre, Plaza Atrium. I figured that the shopping centre would be my best chance of getting a cab so I decided to head in to have lunch and then get a cab.
I had lunch at the A&W fast-food restaurant on the basement level. Thereafter, I took a cab back to the hotel. Back at the hotel, I had a short rest, checked my emails and very soon, it was evening. I decided to head out to have dinner and buy some souvenirs. While the hotel is great, its location is terrible. There was nothing around it for miles. Unless you don't mind eating at its expensive restaurants, then you really have no choice but to head elsewhere for cheap food. This time round, I decided to head further afield. My guidebook says that the Pasar Seni Art Market in Taman Impian Jaya Ancol in North Jakarta is excellent, so I decided to head there.
Once again, I was caught in Jakarta's infamous traffic jams. My journey to Pasar Seni took more than an hour. When I finally got there, the sun had set, and I think the crowds have left. Of course that's assuming that there was a crowd there in the first place. The place was deserted, and the lights were dim. It was the exact opposite of what I had in mind- a bustling night market. But anyway, since I had traveled so far, I decided to have a quick look around and have my dinner. There were a couple of cafes around and I chose one that had a few customers.
After dinner, I took a quick stroll around the market. There were Indonesian handicrafts and paintings on sale but they looked expensive so I didn't bother checking them out. In the middle of the art market is an open-air stage and there was a band performing, so I decided to stay a while to catch their performances. But after a song or two, it seemed like they were rehearsing rather than performing. For instance, they would sing the same phrases over and over again or they would tune their instruments. Well, I'm not going to watch a rehearsal so I decided to leave.
Well, as I mentioned earlier, the place was deserted and I figured it wasn't easy to get a cab, so I decided to walk out. Luckily, I didn't have to walk for long before I got a cab. Since it was still pretty early, I decided to go to Jalan Jaksa, which is the backpacker's district. Somehow, I thought that the place would be like Khao San Road in Bangkok but it's nowhere as happening. In fact, it looked really seedy. I then asked the cab driver to drive me to the Bharata Theatre near Pasar Senen where I thought I'll catch a wayang orang (traditional wayang dance) performance. Seems like it's just not my day. The place was closed, but anyway I decided to alight from the cab. From the Bharata Theatre, I walked over to Pasar Senen which was bustling with activity.
Parts of Pasar Senen were closed but in the parts that were opened for business, there were lots of people, but no tourists as I observed. What's on sale were mainly food and snacks. There were some very nicely-decorated cakes on sale as well but it seems like the place is more of a wholesale market. At this point in time, it was getting a bit late and I decided to head back to the hotel so that I can wake up early the next morning to do some sightseeing before I started work.
The next morning, I headed to Sunda Kelapa after breakfast. According to my Lonely Planet guidebook, this is one of Jakarta's finest sights as the old Dutch port has more colourful sailing ships, the magnificent Buginese Macassar schooners, then you ever thought existed. Well, Sunda Kelapa is in North Jakarta and my taxi ride there took me about an hour.
As soon as my taxi came to a stop at Sunda Kelapa, a man ran up to my taxi and identified himself as a tour guide. He spoke good English and he told me that he'll show me around the place. Well, normally I'll either ignore him or say thanks, but no thanks. But on this particular morning, I was feeling a little under the weather, and I had to rush off soon after for my scheduled appointment with the director of a TB control clinic in Jakarta, so I didn't reject his offer even though it was a very steep US$25.
We walked around Sunda Kelapa where I saw men unloading heavy cargo from the ship hull across precarious wooden gangplanks (which you can see in the above picture) to the shore. Seems like something straight out of the movies. My guide then took me up one schooner to give me a tour of the ship. I managed to get a peek at the living quarters of the men on board the ships. It was very dim and cramped. It must take a very hardy soul to survive a long voyage in those ships.
After getting off the schooner, my guide then hired a wooden rowboat to take us across the harbour to Pasar Ikan which means fish market. Well, as its name suggests, it is a bustling fish market. Within that area, we went into one of the old Dutch East India Company's warehouses which has been converted into the Museum Bahari. Well, apparently I was the first visitor of the day because they had to open up certain parts of the museum for us. The museum houses traditional sailing craft from all corners of the Indonesia archipelago and has some pretty old maps.
Walking out of the museum, I saw the rundown watchtower which is on the other side of the road. It was built around the same time as the warehouses to direct ships into the harbour. But I didn't walk near it. Instead, I continued walking on towards the old town square, Taman Fatahillah, which is the heart of the old Dutch City.
Along the way, I passed by the last remaining Dutch drawbridge, the Hoender pasarbrug or Chicken Market Bridge. The 17th century bridge spans the polluted Kali Besar, the 'great' canal which once marked out the high-class residential area of Batavia. Anyway, it's just a photo opportunity. People aren't allowed on the bridge. Moving on, I soon arrived at Taman Fatahillah. My guide led me into Cafe Batavia, which is housed in an early 19th century two-storey building, the second oldest in the square. It's beautifully restored, but the prices are just as dear.
From Cafe Batavia, we crossed the open cobbled square to the old City Hall, which is now the Jakarta History Museum. The large, bell-weathered hall was built in 1627, and served the administration of the city, the law courts, and even housed Batavia's main prison compound. Well, today, within the museum are lots of heavily carved furniture and other memorabilia from the Dutch period, which didn't interest me terribly. Of more interest are the cells and 'water prisons' in the basement where often more than 300 people were kept. Well, as you can see in the picture below, life must have been hell for the prisoners who were kept in the 'water prison'. Without the flash from my camera, the area was pitch-black. What a cruel way to incarcerate the people- banished from sight and left to rot beneath the floorboards of the city hall.
Walking out of the museum, I saw the old Portuguese cannon Si Jagur or Mr Fertility, which as its name suggests, was believed to be a cure for barrenness. Women offered flowers to the cannon and sat astride it in the hope of bearing children. Well, there was no woman sitting on top of the cannon on the day that I was there. Instead, there were lots of school children milling around the cannon, listening to whom I presume was their teacher speak. Actually, the entire museum was overrun with little school kids. I guess it's their excursion day.
Well, I had time to spare for another stop within Old Batavia before I headed off for my interview, so I decided to go to Gereja Sion, which is the oldest remaining church in Jakarta. It was built in 1695 outside the old city walls for the 'black Portuguese' who were brought to Batavia as slaves and given their freedom if they joined the Dutch Reformed Church. The exterior is very plain. Inside, however, there were carved pillars, copper chandeliers, solid ebony pews, etc. I decided to part ways with my guide here.
After spending some time in the church, I decided to head for lunch before going over to the TB control clinic. Again, I had trouble getting a cab. After walking around for about half an hour, I finally managed to get a cab. I decided to head over to Pasar Senen to search for souvenirs. Unlike the night before, most of the shops in Pasar Senen were opened. But once again, it seems like I'm the only tourist around. Nonetheless, I decided to walk around the place. The stalls in the huge market were closely packed but there were lots of stuff on sale, from electronic goods, to second-hand clothes, food products and so on. The goods were sold at very cheap prices, but then again, I was searching for souvenirs and there were none to be found there.
Soon after, I decided to head over to Plaza Atrium to get a cab. Over there, seems like none of the cab drivers know the way to the clinic which is known as the Poliklinik Pemberantasan Penyakit Paru PPTI, so I had no choice but to call the medical director of the place, Dr Halim Danusantoso, to tell the cab drivers over the phone how to get there. The clinic was only a short distance away from Plaza Atrium. Soon, I arrived at the nondescript two-storey building located within a residential area.
The staff were expecting me. They led me to the second storey, where I interviewed Dr Danusantoso and two ex-TB patients. Anyway, if you're interested, the story's about Indonesia's high TB rates, and what clinics like PPTI is doing to bring down the rates. PPTI's a place where TB patients get free treatment. When that was done, Dr Danusantoso told me that the area around the clinic is actually one of the largest slums in Jakarta, so I decided to take a look around. The kind doctor got two of his staff to show me around the place.
Slums in Senen
Anyway, after a quick look around the area, my two 'guides' helped me to hail a cab and I headed to Plaza Indonesia for lunch. After lunch, I headed back to the hotel to file my story before heading to the airport to catch my flight back to Singapore. I had hoped to finish my story in record time so that I can fit in a swim at the hotel swimming pool but my hopes were dashed by the taxi driver who drove me to some other place instead of the hotel. And considering Jakarta's infamous traffic jams, what should have been a ten minute journey turned into a 45-minute one.
Back at the hotel, I worked on my story right up till the last minute where I really had to depart for the airport or risk missing my flight. Well, so much for swimming. After I filed my story, I immediately set off for the airport. Well, the Soekarno-Hatta Airport is about 35km north-west of the city and my guidebook had mentioned that it'll take an hour to get there, longer during peak hours. Luckily for me, there wasn't much of a jam and I got there in about an hour. After checking in, I walked around the many gift shops and I finally managed to get my souvenirs. Soon after, it was time to board the flight back to Singapore.
