Why are Jakartan's so Obsessed with Malls?

As a normal sassy 16 year old, I am not going to lie, I LOVE MALLS. There is not weekend that I pass by without visiting the mall, lets admit it, mall is the coolest place a city could have. However my point in writing this post isn't to state my admiration to the malls. I am writing this just to criticizes the people of Jakarta about their obsession with the malls. People have built so many malls already that they have lost the cool image of mall it self. In fact, Jakarta has lost its cool and became the one of the hottest place I have visited. They are still building more mall even though the global warming have been sounded so loudly. Moreover, after watching a video in geography class, I found out that Jakarta is slowly going down.... literally. According to the IPPC, by 2025 Jakarta would be from 40 to 60 cm below the sea level, this means this city is sinking. Hopefully the Jakartans would do something to fix this before its too late.

The Street Children of Jakarta

When newly wed couples decided buy their first house, one of the deciding factors would be the environment their children would grow into. They would like to find a place safe enough for children to be playing around in day time. They would find a place that does not have a busy traffic because the street with all sorts of vehicles running around would be a disaster for the family. In Jakarta, however, many children do not get the same kind of protection or security like a normal family. Many of them live and grow up in the streets. They chose the traffic lights to be their hangout place, the mini buses as the place where they sing their heart out, and passing strangers to search for attention. The street children have become a serious problem in the city. Maybe most people would feel sorry for them, that they don't get the life they deserve as children. People think that this children are forced to leave school and make money for their family. However, not all the children are forced. Some of them chose to live in the streets because they do not want to live together with their abusive parents, they do not want to go to school that didn't really teach them anything, or they have already understood the importance of making money to rent a play station game. Some of this children have even already known how to play pity to help them getting some donations from the strangers they beg to. So, giving these children money or pity has actually not been a wise thing to do. It would probably help them very temporarily, but would teach them the wrong thing. The government of Jakarta and the people needs to be strict regarding this issue. It is not only just for their security at the moment but also for the children's future.

The first time I rode a Bajiac

So as many may already know, traffic is a very big issue in Jakarta. In fact I remember going to the dentist once, and it took me about an hour and a half to get home, when usually takes less than 15 minutes. During my first year in Indonesia I was very reluctant to try new things (I still was not used to living in another country). The idea of ever riding in a bajiac was simply ridiculous. Then one day, I was out of the dentist at 5.30 in the after noon. The traffic was UNBELIEVABLE and to top it off we had no car so we were in search of a taxi. After about 30 minutes of anxious waiting my mom points out this Bajiac that was getting closer to us, being the open person that she is, she told me that it was about the fifth Bajiac that had passed, and looking at the traffic, we would probably get home faster if we took the bajiac. Being the stubborn person I am, I told her there was no way I would get on it. She then proceeded to stop the bajiac and get in, and she asked me to get in too. I objected and to my surprised she said "ok", she gave me about 30 thousand Rp. and told me to meet her home... she the closed the "door" of the bajiac. Thats when I snapped and told her to not leave me (yes her plan clearly worked). Well to my surprised i enjoyed riding the Bajiac, it was much faster than a car and it would go through this little spaces in between cars, a trip that would easily take one hour in a car took about 25 t0 30 minutes, and the prise only Rp.20,000 (considerably cheap). Also during my trip on the bajiac, I realized that the main traffic was caused by the people on the Bajiacs and on the motorcycles, everyone would cut in front of other people at the same time, making not only a mess but also impossible for anyone to move. It also made me understand that about 40% of the traffic is caused by everyone wanting to go somewhere at the same time. This was not the last time I ever rode a Bajiac, every so often if there is too much traffic my mom does not think twice about going in a Bajiac, and personally I enjoy the trip.

Mobile Kitchen

Every day on my way back from school I see this man carrying with two big boxes heavy looking boxes around, and I always wondered… “What is that for? That just looks like a big weight”. This was until one day I saw him sitting and cooking and understood what the box was really for. The two big boxes were his mine kitchen, something that really surprised me because the food stands found in Venezuela are much different to the one this man was using. He looked very traditional; Venezuela’s food stands look very “American”. This man would place his stand in the floor and take out the materials to cook the food and the hot base to heat the food and of course the food. Once he actually took everything out, you could see how many things he was really carrying, I was surprised he could fit everything in, and then carry it around everywhere. That certain day he had good sells as I saw 3 different people buying food in the split minute I passed by him. By then I was thinking, what a great idea, he can choose where to go any time of the day he wants, if he is not selling in one place he can just move to the next, and sell there! But then another thought came to mind, what if it rains? Where would he go? Would people by him food then?

Yes he will likely find a roof to not get wet, but how long can that take? And what if the vases used as stove gets wet? Is it the end of the work day or does he go somewhere to re start the carbon?