Jakarta Is Under Threat, But Not for The Reason You Think

Mia Paton

I was thirteen when I travelled to the capital of Indonesia, but the impact of Jakarta was so genuine I still remember my entire experience to this day. I’m rather fond of all those memories, and so it’s particularly saddening to me that the world is doing nothing now that Jakarta is in such dire need of help. 

Jakarta has been described as the world’s most rapidly sinking city, and there are predictions that by 2050, approximately one-third of it will be underwater. This approximation, however, could potentially be increased at least twofold due to rapid climate change.  

Elevated temperatures are melting three glacier regions which, naturally, has caused oceans to expand and sea levels to rise, putting immediate danger on coastal regions. Further cyclones, surges, and tides, also due to climate change, are only adding to these problems.  

But despite this devastating situation, the world is using the internet’s portrayal of Jakarta as an excuse not to help them. It claims that Jakarta is nothing more than an overpopulated, polluted, crime-filled city with terrorists around every corner. I was afraid to travel there. But, looking back, Jakarta is only viewed so negatively by the rest of the world because of westerners’ disregard for third-world countries.  

Jakarta was only initially designed to house 800 000 people yet is now being forced to sustain an estimated twelve million, with no signs of the dramatic growth rate slowing. This enormous overpopulation, consequently, comes with a price; the city is struggling to keep up with urban growth, producing many slums with little to no access to essential resources such as water, sanitation, housing, and transportation. I was shocked at the sight of a family of five piled onto the back of a motorbike, not a helmet in sight.  

Taking into account the vast population and Jakarta’s considerable touristic flow, pickpockets and thieves do exist, but are rather minimal. In actuality, minor precautions are ample to stem the risk altogether; simply be on your guard in crowded places and keep a close eye on your valuables. There is massive stigma around the world that every Jakartan is trying to rob you and that thieves run rampant, but the reality is quite the opposite. In many neighbourhoods, Jakartans will often come to the aid of a victim; all a tourist needs to do is ask for help.  

Even now, when I type “Jakarta” into Google search, what comes up? ‘Your security is in danger at all times, so you need to pay special attention,’ said an editor from Travel Safe Abroad in 2022, in context of ‘the high threat of terrorist attack.’ Funny how it doesn’t say the same for the United States, where gun laws are lax. 

Terrorism is a worldwide threat, however security against this in Jakarta is solid and information of potential plots is constant and widespread all over Indonesia. The risk is not nothing but is much less likely than a mugging or scamming incident, and websites that constantly bring up terrorism as synonymous with Jakarta are using it as a media buzzword for fear-mongering purposes. Why do western cultures disregard threats that plague communities we see as “disadvantaged” and make them out to be the threat instead? 

The main risk when travelling to Jakarta is not, as many foreigners are made to believe, thievery or terrorism or other acts of violence, but rather natural disasters. Tsunamis, cyclones, and earthquakes are common in the Indonesian capital, and the volcanoes they have are also a potential threat as they are capable of erupting at any time. The most prominent disaster in Jakarta, however, is floods, and this is something that I have only become recently aware of, despite having been to the city myself.  

Not only does Jakarta flood often, but it is currently sinking into the Java Sea.  

Luckily there was no flooding when I went to Jakarta, and my family and I were able to go to Wayang Museum, one of the most interesting places we explored. The entire museum is dedicated to Javan Wayang puppetry, intricately painted wooden puppets displayed in glass cases and originally used for Wayang Kulit, an Indonesian form of shadow-puppetry.  

As a child who glorified all forms of art, I wanted to spend hours looking through this museum, reading each plaque below each puppet to see where they were from and what stories they told. I wasn’t only full of wonder at the art I witnessed, however, but also the people I met within that museum.  

There was a school excursion on that day, and the students were meeting up with tourists to practise their English. My family wandered around that museum and chatted away with them, some of the most polite and friendly people I’ve ever met. One of the older girls found out I was thirteen and started trying to set me up with this boy who was twelve, teasing the two of us to no end. I felt very human in that moment.  

However, all that unique, beautiful history, and all those feelings of communion are going to be lost in the next thirty years. Wayang Museum is less than two kilometres from the sea and will undoubtedly be submerged unless something changes now. 

Because of the bleakness of the situation, the national government has considered deserting north Jakarta. President Joko Widodo claims that the assembly of a new capital will solve this problem, not only saving the population from the rising sea, but also reducing the population in the relocation. The government plans to start over with a more sustainable city that has good transportation, no immediate negative connotations, and is in an area that is less prone to natural disasters. Borneo is the envisioned destination for the “new Jakarta” and the entire relocation process is now scheduled for completion by 2045.  

I’m not the only one worried, however, about the environmental and economic impact of installing an expansive 1600-square-kilometre city in Borneo’s East Kalimantan Province. This area is currently home to a wide array of already endangered wildlife, and this project will mean investing $34 billion after a global pandemic.  

There is a dangerous minor debate around the world on whether help should be given to this “unsafe” and “hopeless” capital, purely having arisen from the negative stigma that Google deems synonymous with Jakarta. Without my experience of the beauty and community I discovered within this sprawling city, I will not deny that I would have looked at these internet headlines and taken them at face-value, too. What other issues are we ignoring due to media biases?

Mia Paton (she/her) is a writer and editor currently studying a BFA in Creative Writing at QUT in Meanjin (Brisbane). She has two short stories published in Dawn Street Zine and is a volunteer beta reader for the Queensland Writers Centre. She is currently in the process of writing her first manuscript, Witch Hunt. Mia writes a mixture of literary and historical fiction and is delving into contemporary and fantasy genres.

 

Inspired by childhood classics such as Shirley Barber, Monster High Dolls, and Sailor Moon, Erin McKenna (she/her) aims to create whimsical, ethereal, and uncanny contemporary artwork. She mainly works in a digital space and discusses her personal experiences with mental and physical health, sexuality and liberation, and her relationship with her body.

Instagram: @erinxisobel