Articles - Hera Diani - Jakarta based Journalist: December 2008

Saturday, December 27, 2008

How Much More to Jakarta Life Should There Be Than Shopping?

http://thejakartaglobe.com/news/how-much-more-to-jakarta-life-should-there-be-than-shopping/303510

These days, Lindsay Hutabarat has to come up with a good excuse to go to the mall with her sisters-in-law and their children. A year ago, going to shopping centers was their weekly pastime, where the women and their offspring could stroll freely in the mall, the mothers shopping while their children frequented video game arcades.

They did not just go to malls within close range of their houses in Bekasi, in the outskirts of East Jakarta. They often drove all the way to the Kelapa Gading Mall in North Jakarta, a one-hour drive away without traffic jams.

They even went on weekday afternoons, after excusing themselves from work and picking the children up from school.

But then came New Year's Eve, when the whole family gathered for their annual tradition of revelation, evaluation and planning ahead. Their husbands, to their surprise, came up with an objection to their wives' mall-hopping habit.

"They said it was a waste of time and money, and that we're not setting a good example for the children. They're afraid the children will turn into materialistic and consumptive people," Lindsay, a 40 year-old accountant, said with a grin.

"They said as educated people and working mothers, we should've known better things to do than just going to malls."

She shrugged when asked why she liked to go to the mall so much. "I’m not sure. I just do."

For millions of Jakartans, malls serve as an escape from the city’s pollution and traffic jams, which make it uncomfortable for people to hang out al fresco and move easily between destinations.

The malls are also relatively secure, so parents can bring their children or the rest of the family along without having to worry about pickpockets and the like. Malls have also become some of the tourist attractions of Jakarta, drawing visitors who prefer the shopping centers to other city landmarks.

Tria Padmadisastra, a freelance public relations officer, 36, said although there are shopping centers and malls where she lives in Serpong, Tangerang, she often brings her whole family all the way to downtown Jakarta.

"I just want to know what's popular and trendy, in terms of fashion or food and stuff like that," said the mother of three.

Devi Setya Wibawa, an urban sociologist from Atma Jaya Catholic University, said malls have replaced parks, youth centers and the like, making most people, especially teenagers who used to frequent those places, waste their time at malls instead.

“Some malls indeed provide children's playgrounds, or bookstores,” she said. “But what people can do mostly is just hang out and shop. There is nothing you can do at the mall that does not require you to spend money. It forces people to behave as consumers."

Spending time at malls does nothing to improve family bonding, Devi said, as each member of the family often goes his or her separate way inside.

"Many Jakartans do not have much time for their family, given their jobs and the traffic jams that makes it difficult to go home early. Unfortunately, their precious spare time is often just wasted at the mall," Devi said.

In terms of community relations, she added, malls have widened social segregation in society. Only those with money have access to malls, and they have become deeply out of touch with the reality of people’s lives outside those buildings.

Meutia Chaerani, 30, who just moved back to Jakarta after living in Singapore for the past few years, said it was amusing to see wealthier people jump from one enclave to another.

“Their houses are in a segregated enclave, then they jump into the small enclave that is the automobile, before going to another air-conditioned enclave called the mall, to socialize with their flock. This specific social class is so segregated from the outside world that they can choose not to be engaged with poorer surroundings,” she said.

The malls in Singapore, Meutia said, are blended with outdoor spaces and inviting instead of abruptly separating social classes. Jakarta’s malls and buildings are like forts, she said.

“But then again, the society in Singapore is more homogenous and not as contrasted as it is in Jakarta,” she added.

Middle- and upper-income earners living in Greater Jakarta are often reluctant to go to the shopping malls in their own areas because most of the visitors, as Lindsay said, are people in lower economic brackets.

If this segregation continues as economic hardship increases, it may create social envy, Devi said.

Meanwhile, people have become so used to doing everything at the mall that they grow dependent on it.

Greater Jakarta residents, particularly in Bumi Serpong Damai, Tangerang, have city parks, modern markets and several other alternatives to shopping malls. The rest of Jakarta, however, is stuck with malls.

“More malls emerge all over the city but I can’t distinguish one over the other,” said Enda Nasution, an advertising executive and popular blogger. “The growth of malls should be accompanied by the growth of public spaces, like parks, free-of-charge children’s playgrounds, libraries and so on.”

“Malls, as private enterprise, have taken over the role of public spaces that are supposed to be provided by the government for free, paid by taxpayers’ money,” he said.

Wiryatmoko, the head of Jakarta’s urban planning office, said providing more green space in the capital would require a lot of money. His office is responsible for approving shopping center plans.

He rejected criticism that there were too many malls in the capital and that they had created more traffic jams.

“All of the malls have passed our assessment, in terms of environment, traffic and social considerations, and so on,” he said. “Perhaps there should be no more malls in South and Central Jakarta, but in the East, there are still spaces for them.”

Labels: social affairs, urban