Genuine Plastic Vanity

I smiled as I opened the Living Section of today’s Sunday newspaper, Kompas 15 May, 2005. There were two articles talking about the existence or more like the lack of decent public space in the city of Jakarta and in the country in general ( see Mana Ruang Publik Kami ? and Kerinduan Menikmati Alun – Alun ). These articles are really what ParkBench is all about which is using park bench as an icon for urban open public spaces (outdoor) as well ato represent the  life of its citizens across urban cities and societies.

Amongst its various posted journals, ParkBench have had several write ups talking about just exactly what is happening in the city of Jakarta where we live concerning the lack of public spaces and the widening gap in social classes from the continuous establishment of new luxurious commercial city centers. These artificial places then become a forced mainstream “public spaces” based on consumerism. They were build with the excuse of providing comfort and leisure for its citizens at the expense of overlooking the aspects of existing cultures as well as the neglected historical sites that can instead be re-vitalized to provide free public spaces for all layers of social classes.

Reading these articles on the paper today my smile somewhat turned into a sneer which usually accompanied a feeling of smugness cynicism. Really, just like most people I detest smugness and self – righteousness. However, I can’t help myself for being so damn conceited. Although both articles are all for open public spaces and the longing of having such places once again to be a part of our daily urban life but the comments and quotes from some of the individuals representing these commercial places that are providing “paid comfort” to the people are a reflection of a “silly trivial bullshits” vanities of the urban development trends taking place in major cities in Indonesia. A trend that has it roots from the weak mentalities of the municipal government who made public spaces as commodities for sale with the private sectors. It is truly a dangerous vanities as it is building a high wall of protection against the so –called those from the marginal societies.

Let’s forget about the advance cities in the region like Singapore, Tokyo or Seoul. Instead let’s take a look at the nearby Bukit Bintang, Damansara or Srihartamas area in Kuala Lumpur where outdoor public spaces are widely available. There you can have the options of enjoying the comfort of an open park and garden, free window shopping or a leisurely walks with the choices to spend or not to spend anything on some food and beverage of various price range either in the open food court or a more upscale chic restaurants. These kinds of options are what we are lacking in the city of Jakarta. Instead, what is available are mediocre city mock- ups trying to imitate or capture the ambiance of an outdoor atmosphere with names like City Walk, Town Square or City Square that offers only to the catered segmented niche of the society polluting them with branded goods.

The names of these places themselves reflect a falsely westernization frame of mind which in this country somewhat stupidly equal to modernization. For a nation with a heritage of having a town square called alun – alun in almost every cities in the country, it failed to utilize such places (some even has historical value attach to it) to be the center for the movement and interaction of its citizens. Modernization instead means copying foreign influences and making them into some artificial spaces that could manipulate the behavior of the people and infected them with a “100% genuine plastic” shallow and artificial nouveau riche mindset. Especially for the younger generation this kind of an environment and surrounding can create a missing link detaching themselves from their own heritage and cultural roots.

I think it is an idiotic notion trying to move Les Champs – Elysees in Paris to a narrow indoor space somewhere in South Jakarta just as it is impossible to move the ambiance of Kuta or Ubud in Bali to Fifth Avenue or even a place with a closely bohemian flavor like Greenwich Village in New York City. Such attempts to me are more like deepening ignorance rather than enlighten the people.

The city of Beijing can still have its Tiananmen Square despite the nation’s industrial revolution and rapid modernization. Other authoritarian state like Russia still maintains its historical Red Square in Moscow. I have never been to Baghdad but from many visuals on the television during the ongoing conflicts I can still see the shouq or market place as the typical Middle East traditional center for the people’s interaction. So are the shouq in the Old City part of Jerusalem or the city of Marrakesh in Morocco where both locals and tourists can experience the open public spaces without having the feeling of being trapped in a forced consumerism.

Who are we really to dictate people to have to spend money or to have that certain “look” of having money before we can enjoy the comfort of being in public spaces? You can walk around enjoying yourself whether you are in the Notting Hill section of London or Harajuku in Tokyo passing all the chic boutiques and cafes without having to spend anything if you don’t choose to. If there are a desperate needs to copy something from the lack of our own creativities why not turned Monas or Taman Suropati into a mini Central Park in New York where people can freely enjoy their lunches they bring from home in a picnic basket sitting next to an executive with a laptop doing his or her work out of the office taking advantage using a flash modem for internet connection or other status gadgets with 3G tenchnology like Blackberry and Iphone . All these can be free of charge and all it takes for the municipal government of Jakarta is to provide enough waste baskets around the places and continuous Public Service Announcement in the media to brainwash the people with a propaganda for not littering to keep the city clean. Now, this type of propaganda surely is much more beneficial than some tacky, cheezy and artificial vanity on the standard of what is the true meaning of open public spaces that imitates some far away places with totally different vibes and cultures.