Book Review Of Historical Places In Jakarta - An Invitation To Know The History Of A City

JAKARTA - In addition to successfully bringing the Indonesian people to the front of the gates of independence, President Soekarno has also succeeded in changing the image of Jakarta. Based on his artistic instincts, Jakarta, which was originally known as the center of the Dutch colonial government, was later transformed into a city characterized by the construction of the National Monument (Monas) as a symbol of the lighthouse of the nation's struggle.

Thanks to Soekarno's efforts, the growing fame and magnificence of Monas has been able to invite people from all over the country to visit. As a result, whenever people talk about Jakarta, the name Monas is always carried around. In fact, if you look at history, Jakarta is not only about Monas and Bung Karno's dreams.

How not, Jakarta has always been one of the important trade centers in Asia. On that basis, there are many interesting things that can be traced from Jakarta apart from Monas. As proof, a pastor from Germany who has lived in Indonesia for a long time, Adolf Heuken has also written a book entitled Historic Places in Jakarta.

In this book, Adolf wants to emphasize to the public that Jakarta is very rich in historical buildings and events, both those arising from the Portuguese, Dutch and Japanese colonial era. For this reason, the owner of writing skillfully makes anyone who reads his work, undoubtedly reminisce back to the heyday of a city that was once nicknamed the Koningen van het Oosten (Queen of the East).

Vacation to a historical place

One form of nostalgia lies in the long history of changing the name of Jakarta. It was deliberately attached by him so that readers could get to know Jakarta better, especially when the capital was still called Batavia.

The name Batavia is said to have appeared only after VOC troops conquered Jayakarta in 1619. “They named their fortress Batavia, in memory of the Batavier tribes, the ancestors of the Dutch nation. Since then, Jayakarta has been called Batavia for more than three hundred years, ”wrote Adolf on page 31.

After a summary of the history of Batavia, the reader is invited to take a walk to enjoy various historical places. Take an example when the discussion was emphasized on the Oud Batavia area - Old Town - which, if you look at history, was where the center of the VOC government was present for the first time.

Then, that is what makes the Oud Batavia area have a variety of historical places, which even today can still be visited. Some of them include the Shahbandar Tower, the VOC Spice Warehouse - now the Maritime Museum, the Red Shop, the VOC Ship Arena, and the Stadhuis (City Hall) which is now the Jakarta History Museum.

The most interesting explanation comes when describing the building which now functions as the Jakarta History Museum. Adolf explained that this place was once called the Talking Building by all residents who live in the City of Batavia.

The nickname came because it was where a citizen of the city could speak to the owner of power. Chat can be all kinds, ranging from tax matters to other matters.

“City Hall has been used for many purposes during that long history. For this reason, many important talks are carried out in these hall rooms, so it is called the Gedung Bichalo or Bichalo in the words of the Hokien people, "written on page 63.

Unfortunately, the center of government at that time had moved because of tropical diseases, such as malaria, cholera, and dysentery, which began to attack the entire city. On that basis, during the reign of the Governor General of the Dutch East Indies, Herman Willem Daendels (1808-1811), he then moved the center of government to Nieuw Batavia Weltevreden - an area around the Banteng Field - so that its citizens would be free from tropical diseases.

At the same time, Adolf invites readers to enjoy Nieuw Batavia, from the Banteng Square, the Arts Building, the Pancasila Building, the presidential palaces, to the National Museum. Everything is explained in full with history while giving the reader an overview in the form of compelling illustrations on each page.

In fact, important events that had happened were not forgotten by Adolf. Among other things, such as the Mataram attack on Batavia, the rioting in Pacinan in 1740, until Pieter Erberveld's execution. The rest, Adolf attached a lot of information related to places of worship, be it mosques, temples or churches that have been around since the colonial period.

A hope

Uniquely, while writing, Adolf also slipped hope in this book. The hope is none other than that many people will be helped by the information provided so that they can get to know Jakarta better, so they can understand, love and take part in maintaining the capital city of Indonesia.

"A city whose citizens do not know and appreciate its history, meaning its loci genius, is inhabited by a floating period. In a climate like this, the spirit of solidarity between citizens to maintain order, cleanliness, security, the environment and to belong together is difficult to grow, "he wrote.

For this reason, the factual history of a city or country can act as an identity builder. As stated by Indonesian historian Prof. Dr. Sartono Kartodirdjo:

"National history serves as a symbol of national identity, so talking about national identity without referring to national history is nonsense."

Prof. Dr. Sartono Kartodirdjo

Detail:

Title of Book: Historical Places in Jakarta

Author: Adolf Heuken SJ

First published: 1982

Publisher: Cipta Loka Caraka

Number of Pages: 460