I’m not the most creative person in the world, but I think it’s true that almost anything under the sun can be a source of inspiration. The rain, for example, has sparked tons of contemplations and poems and songs. (Can you hear “ella…ella…e…e…” playing in the background?) Coupled with human stupidity stubbornness, it has brilliantly inspired me to write.
We, as in Jakartans, have been experiencing massive rains in recent days. So very sadly, we expect that the roads will be flooded and traffic clogged. We just know that many residential areas will be unnecessarily irrigated and schools washed with icky-brown water. It is ironic frequently hear jokes like this one: “The flood water has entered my house, but only up to my ankles…on the second floor.” Oh dammit, we are living in the biggest kampung in the world.
It doesn’t take a genius to remember that Jakarta has a special annual agenda: flood. Plus, every five years we get the special flood like the one in 2002 and 2007. If each flood were a newspaper, those 5-yearly floods would be the weekend editions. One particular day in the 2007 Great Flood, I went to school and only about a fifth of the 30-strong class was there; the same thing happened in the other 3 classes, even merging classes would have been similarly absurd. In that case, the culprit wasn’t the flood itself –my school was as dry as Tukul’s jokes-, but it was the flood’s severe side effects on everything else. Anyway, the flood literally paralyzed the proud capital city of Indonesia and all its gold-paved streets.
For any of you who in 2007 thought that we cannot go lower than that, you obviously thought wrong. The great flood is coming again, and Noah isn’t around to build us a nice ark to float on.
Let’s get straight to the point and not blame Noah, or God for this matter. When will the city council realize that they have to stop pouring concrete and asphalt on Jakarta’s rare green spaces? Malls are fun and all, but its growth has surpassed all expectations. I bet even the craziest mall-goers would say that it’s too much. Additionally, when the council said that they’re building public parks for the citizen, they don’t seem to have the same image of a “park” compared to ours. Their “parks” are serpentine jogging tracks, plazas, and gazebos, with tiny blots of grass and non-shady trees here and there. To avoid any disappointment, just don’t dream of actually taking off your shoes to walk on the lush carpet of green grass, let alone have a picnic.
As a result, we have to endure the same ordeal year after year. Common stories aside, I have heard stories about residents who prepare themselves with rubber boats. Others chose just silently accept their fate, while those trapped in traffic can only grumble.
Although I’m no city planning expert, I believe that something can be done to alleviate the impacts of our floods in short term and prevent any flood altogether sometime in the near future. More green spaces for water absorption and for leisure are always welcome. So are improvements for the city’s drainage system. Even though we live in the concrete jungle, we still have to respect the natural environment, or whatever is left of it.
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