Heritage building favorite wedding venue

The Jakarta Post, Tuesday, June 13, 2006

There is no doubt about it, the National Archives Building is a solitary slip of elegance among the ungainly modern architecture that lines bustling Jl. Gajah Mada in Central Jakarta.

“I think it’s the most beautiful building in Jakarta, but I may be biased about that,” Tamalia Alisjahbana, the executive director of the Foundation for the Indonesian National Archives Building, told The Jakarta Post.

She isn’t alone in her opinion though — the dozens of wedding parties held on the property since its restoration in 1998 are a testament to the building’s appeal.

In fact, weddings are the National Archive Building’s specialty.

“We love weddings. One of the aims of the foundation is to get people to know and love the building, to feel they also own it. And what better way to achieve this than a wedding,” Tamalia said.

Standing on the steps facing the courtyard, one’s ears can almost catch the soft strains of a string orchestra, playing to the accompaniment of clinking champagne glasses.

A bride’s train is caught by an errant wind, merry laughter and gaiety, kisses and dancing. The green lawn surrounded by stately Dutch architecture makes a perfect backdrop for any garden wedding party.

The property was built for the Dutch plantation owner, later Governor General, Reinier de Klerk in 1760, in the manner of stately country residences of the time.

“The house was de Klerk’s dream home and when someone builds a home with so much love like he did, you can still feel it. Even after 246 years,” Tamalia said.

Noted historian Adolf Heuken SJ said the layout of the rooms showed a Renaissance style with a Louis XV baroque-rococo influence, seen especially in the window and door frames.

Wood plank balconies with low-slung roofs to keep out the heat of the tropical sun, romantic curving staircases and the beautifully carved openings above doorways make for excellent details in pre-wedding photographs.

“The most popular spot for pre-wedding photos are the staircases,” Darwis, the building’s museum shop attendant, said.

He said couples must pay a fee of Rp 300,000 (about US$32) to have their photographs taken in the building and on the grounds.

As for the wedding party itself, rental fees can climb to Rp 20 million, depending on which area of the National Archives Building is used.

The foundation also provides a list of recommended caterers, decorators and even entertainers of every kind and culture for clients to choose from.

“But they’re free to use their own. It’s the bride and groom’s special day and we try to make it flexible for them to have the best day of their lives,” Tamalia said.

Tanjung Priok Station to relive its glory days

The Jakarta Post, Friday, June 9, 2006

In contrast to the hustle and bustle, heat and general noisiness of the nearby bus terminal, thick brick walls and high ceilings keep the interior of the Tanjung Priok train station in North Jakarta in perpetual dimness and quiet coolness.

There were only a few people there Thursday. Several men — drivers of the many vehicles that pass through the bus terminal every day — were asleep next to the station’s public toilets.

“It’s nice and cool here in the daytime, and a good place to hang out when it rains,” Nanang, a native of Bogor who was resting before taking his intercity bus out again, told The Jakarta Post.

Others — station employees and security officers — spend their afternoon breaks playing badminton on the station’s indoor court, built in one of the station’s unused rooms.

“The court was built in 1979, for employees and friends to let off steam,” station master Suwito said.

There is not much activity at the train station during the day. Being mainly a station for cargo trains, most of its activity begins in the evening, when passenger trains no longer take up the tracks.

“Activity usually picks up after 8 p.m., and only slows down at four in the morning,” Suwito said, explaining that the cargo came off ships at Tanjung Priok Port and was then taken to the station to be transported to Bandung in West Java and Surabaya in East Java.

“Usually the containers hold spare parts for machinery and vehicles, sometimes cloth and garments, other times tea leaves,” Suwito, who has been in charge of the train station for two years, said.

Tanjung Priok Station was not always a cargo station, but an important transit point for people getting off ships at Tanjung Priok harbor to go into Batavia.

The harbor itself became Batavia’s primary harbor, replacing Sunda Kelapa to the west, after increased traffic from the opening of the Suez Canal in the late 19th century.

The station was built between 1917 to 1921 in the Indisch Classicism style of architecture. In comparison, the Kota train station, known by its old name Stasiun Beos (East Batavia Train Transportation Company), was built in 1929.

“There used to be a lounge where people could wait for trains, and even an underground VIP room,” Suwito said, adding that access to the underground room had been sealed off and deemed unsafe.

One can still imagine the grandeur of the station’s halls: Cavernous rooms are drenched in sunlight — it splashes onto the tiled floors through imposing paned windows.

Carvings of vines, which fringe the doors, add a touch of elegance to the otherwise severe lines of the room.

All that and more for one with imagination; otherwise, it is just a room that reeks of urine, with paint peeling off the walls and unwashed windows.

Tanjung Priok Station stopped its passenger service in 2000 because state train company PT KA decided to concentrate its services in other areas with higher passenger numbers.

Despite being listed as a type A heritage building, Suwito said the station received no funding for its upkeep from the Jakarta Culture and Museum Agency.

“On the one hand, we need to generate money for upkeep, on the other, we can’t change the station’s architecture because it’s classified as type A, so it’s a stalemate for us,” he explained, adding that besides repainting the buildings and fixing the roof, the station’s architecture remained much the same as it was in its heyday.

Plans, however, are underway to renovate the old station, as part of the North Jakarta municipality’s revitalization of the Old Kota district.

Passenger services from Tanjung Priok Station may also resume, together with services from East Ancol and Kampung Bandan, along the route to Kota Station.

“This means some serious changes will take place. Platforms will have to be raised to be able to service the newer trains,” Suwito said, quickly adding that the old architecture would still be preserved.

“Passenger comfort and service are of the utmost importance; but, as much as possible, the heritage features of the station won’t be sacrificed. After all, that’s what makes this station unique, and we mustn’t lose that,” he said.

Quake takes toll on historical sites

The Jakarta Post, Sunday 28 May 2006

Archaeologists surveying the Prambanan Temple complex in Yogyakarta hours after Saturday’s devastating earthquake found extensive damage to the ancient site.

Stone blocks and statues lay scattered about the ground; decades of patient restoration work undone in less than a minute.

“Our initial survey of the site found wreckage at the Siwa, Wisnu and Brahma temples, as well as at several minor temples,” Yogyakarta Archaeological Conservation Agency head Agus Waluyo told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

He said a thorough study was necessary to determine if the temples’ foundations were damaged in the quake.

“We need to make sure the earth under the temples will not cause the structures to subside,” Agus said.

Prambanan Temple was constructed by the rulers of the Sanjaya Dynasty, in a display of their power and influence in the ninth century.

But power struggles, volcanic explosions and earthquakes took their toll on the complex, so when the Dutch “discovered” the site in 1733 it was in urgent need of restoration. Work on the temples began in 1903 and continued until 1991.

“This time around, I don’t think the restoration will be finished in six months,” Agus said.

The land around Yogyakarta is also home to Borobudur, Kalasan, Sari and other holy temples, constructed by the rulers of the ancient Javanese kingdoms.

Yogyakarta and its people are the keepers of ancient traditions, and the city is home to a royal family that can trace its line back to the Mataram era in the 16th century.

The city survived with most of its culture and traditions intact through Dutch colonial rule, and served as the capital of a newly independent Indonesia between 1945 and 1950.

Saturday’s earthquake has left this usually laid-back city in shambles, with many of its residents left without homes or afraid to return to their houses.

There is no friendly banter between shoppers and vendors along Jl. Malioboro, a favorite shopping destination for both locals and tourists alike. Only the rubble of collapsed buildings and smashed glass from shops.

Near Malioboro, the ground is littered with slate from the roof of the former Dutch fort Vredeburg, though its thick walls stand undamaged.

Yogyakarta Palace was not totally spared. While the residence of the current sultan, Hamengku Buwono X, who is also the governor, escaped with only minor cracks to its walls, part of the Hamengku Buwono IX Museum collapsed during the quake.

The collapsed building housed an ancient set of gamelan instruments used for weddings. In the same compound, a building housing carriages used by former rulers suffered cracks to its walls.

Agus said a more extensive survey of the damage to the city’s ancient heritage would be conducted Monday.

“We are still in shock after the earthquake,” he said.

Old Depok, the legacy of 12 families

The Jakarta Post, Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Bacas, Isakh, Jacob, Jonathans, Joseph, Laurens, Leander, Loen, Samuel, Sudira, Tholense and Zadokh. A litany of names, eerily reminiscent of a bygone era.

These 12 family names, which belonged to the first 150 slaves transported to Depok by landlord and evangelist Cornelis Chastelein at the end of the 17th century, were passed down from father to son to their descendants today.

The area where they live, aptly named Old Depok, is peppered with the legacy of the people locals now refer to as the Depok Dutch.

“But we were never Dutch. We were brought here from Bali, Ambon, Timor, and were liberated and given this land when Chastelein died in 1714,” Suzana Leander, education department head of the Cornelis Chastelein Foundation, said during a tour of Old Depok on Sunday, which was organized by study group Mitocondrya.

After Chastelein’s death, the liberated slaves found themselves with some 1,244 hectares of land, and each family was allotted their own plot.

“Old Depok belonged to the 12 families, and outsiders who traded with them lived in kampongs outside the perimeter of the area,” Suzana said.

She said that the nearby Pondok Cina (Chinese cottage) and Lenteng Agung (from kelenteng agung or holy temple, where the Chinese prayed) were all that remained of the traders’ kampongs.

The region was in fact one of the most advanced areas in the country at the time, with regular train services to Batavia, running electricity and good Malay language schools.

Depok Lama Station is a legacy of those times, and the building that today houses Harapan Hospital on Jl. Pemuda was once the office of the region’s civil government.

After the Dutch East India Company was disbanded in 1799, the Dutch government did not take over land held privately, enabling Old Depok to establish its own civil government until land reforms in 1952 absorbed the region into the Republic of Indonesia.

“The civil government was established in 1872, with a president appointed through general elections held every three years,” Suzana said, before introducing the tour group to Cornelis Joseph Jonathans, the son of Depok’s last president.

“We had our own laws in those days, and the Dutch only took care of security matters,” the 84-year-old man said.

Cornelis’ ancestral home is directly opposite the office where his father, J. M. Jonathans, once took office as president.

The house was built in the manner of traditional Dutch homes in the tropics, with high ceilings and long shuttered windows to catch the breeze.

Here, Cornelis spends his days with his wife, Magdalena Leander, and his two children and their families.

Also on Jl. Pemuda is Immanuel Church. The church was established in 1700 but was not made permanent until 1792.

In 1834 it was destroyed by an earthquake. It was rebuilt in 1854 and last renovated in 1998.

A plaque commemorating the death of the region’s founder, Chastelein, can be seen upon entering the church.

John Leirissa from the church said that all preaching since the time of the first priest, Baprima Lucas, in 1713 was conducted in Malay then Bahasa Indonesia.

“Dutch was never spoken here, because there were no Dutch, even the Dutch ministers preached in Malay,” John said.

The 12 original families were devout followers of John Calvin, as were the Dutch at that time, and their descendants created a strong Christian community in Old Depok.

An old Dutch cemetery still exists in the area, where descendants of the 12 families are buried. The van der Capellen family mausoleum is considered the oldest in the cemetery, dating back to 1881 when a Marie Adolphine van der Capellen died.

It is not clear, however, whether there is any relation to Baron van der Capellen who ruled as governor general between 1817 to 1826.

“She was probably a relation of his somehow,” Suzana said, leading the way out of the rundown cemetery.