5 Myths about DKI Jakarta: DEBUNKED!

16 Jun 2021

Time flew really fast, didn’t it? One more month and we will move to the next semester. I’ll also be a sophomore by the end of July! Do you know one more thing that will grow older by this month? The answer is our capital city; DKI Jakarta. The city with the most controversy (and so does its Governor), also the city that is known for its flood (wow, Jakarta), and ALSO, known for the New York of Indonesia. DKI Jakarta will celebrate its 494th anniversary as a city. Being one of the oldest cities in Indonesia, Jakarta must be having some myths scattered all over the place. Let’s talk about it and debunk some of them!

  1. The original name is Batavia

This is the most popular myth, I guess. Don’t worry, this is still the beginning. Many people mixed Jayakarta, Batavia, and Jakarta altogether. Thinking those are the real names of the city. But the original name of our capital city is actually Sunda Kelapa. It was a port for the Sunda Kingdom during the 14th century. This was all before the Dutch and the Portuguese.

  1. Jakarta is a city

I would say this one is difficult. The city’s official name is Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta, which means it’s the capital city of Indonesia. But thanks to our deep love for the province system, Jakarta is categorized as a province, but at the same time, is also a city. Because of this, the highest leader of the city is titled as governor (like any other provinces in Indonesia), there are no DPRD tingkat dua, and the mayors are being chosen by the governor.

  1. Only has five administrative area

I’ll start to assume you don’t live in Jakarta. Come on, this is so easy. There are six administrative areas of DKI Jakarta. People often forget that Kabupaten Kepulauan Seribu is part of the capital city or should I say the capital province?

  1. Never change its Coat of Arms after the independence

You can only get this one right if you love heraldry. DKI Jakarta officially changed its coat of arms two times (three times if you include the event before the Republic was formed, and four times if you also include the asymmetrical DJAJA RAJA version in 1963). The first one looked so different from the coat of arms that we have today. Sadly, it’s hard to find further information about this. The second coat of arms is basically what we have today.Batavia’s Coat of Arms with the motto “Dispereert Niet” which means “Don’t give up”
DKI Jakarta’s Coat of Arms with the motto “Jaya Raya”

  1. The heart of Jakarta is in West Jakarta

This may be subjective, and probably no right and wrong answer, but in my personal opinion, the heart of the city is located in Jakarta Pusat. Although Jakarta is the heart of our country’s economy, it still serves as the capital city. All the government institutions and businesses are located in Jakarta Pusat. You name it, the President Palace, the parliament building, and the famous Stadion Gelora Bung Karno. Yes, it’s true that some ministries’ offices are located in the South, and so does the main business district. But, when it comes to being a capital city, Central Jakarta is the right answer.

Bonus myths, because why not.

  1. The flood problem is because of the government

Okay, don’t be political and let’s stay objective. Some people blame the governor for it, and some blame the president. I won’t say those blaming activities are wrong, but maybe if you guys know the history of Jakarta, you can blame the right person for this flood. When the Dutch came to Jayakarta (yes, the chronological order is Sunda Kelapa – Jayakarta – Batavia and so on), they turned this city into what Amsterdam looks like. But segregation between the whites and the indigenous people happened. Thanks to this event, many pribumi were forced to find another way to get water. Sounds familar? The solution is to pump water, and this happened until the present day. This segregation also caused a lot of pollution in the place where the pribumi lives. A canal system like Amsterdam cannot be applied in Jakarta, as both cities have different climates. Because of this, many diseases happened at that time. You guys can find the detailed explanation in the references.

Wow, our old Jakarta surely has so much history right? There are actually many more myths that I want to debunk, but well, I need to give my attention to my piles-up assignment that I haven’t touched yet. DKI Jakarta is like a book of history with many promises. It stood as Batavia; protecting the lives of the whites from the indigenous people of this land, and witnessed the proclamation of our founding fathers. People come to this city because of the promises to be rich, but end up becoming the victim of kekejaman ibu kota. Nevertheless, happy birthday DKI Jakarta.

Editor: Clara Nathania

References:

 

Handiko Wijaya