Review Of Ngopi Books (di) Jakarta - Seeing The Capital City From The Eyes Of Urban People

Photo: Detha Arya Tifada / VOI

JAKARTA - From a long time ago, Jakarta was known as a place for such a large circulation of money. The city, which had its name as Batavia, is like a magnet that can attract people to come.

Because of the high attractiveness, people from all over the country came hypnotized and tried their luck in life in the capital.

However, no one can be sure of the luck and fate of living in a metropolitan city. Some are at home, some are starting to enjoy the rhythm, and some are forced to survive in the wilderness of the city that was once nicknamed, Queen of the East.

For those who have successfully passed the Jakarta-style challenges and become successful people, be happy. However, for those whose youths only consisted of complaints with unpredictable salaries, it was perfect to consider life in Jakarta to be both gloomy and colorful.

In fact, this condition made Indonesian writer Seno Gumira Ajidarma speak up. He said: "How terrible it is to grow old with memories of youth that consist only of road jams, the fear of arriving late to the office, the uninspiring routine, and a life like a machine, which only ends in a meager retirement."

Not only Seno, Ngojak Community also observed the anxiety in the book Ngopi (di) Jakarta: Street, Human, Space, Time (2017). For them, their daily life as a citizen of Jakarta is often spent working, on the streets, and occasionally taking advantage of the meager leave to take a vacation outside the region.

Therefore, Jakarta, for a community that often traces the traces of historical places, considers Jakarta a cruel, yet fun city. Therefore, in this book Ngojak divides the subject of life in Jakarta into 4 fragments, namely Street, Human, Space, and Time.

The street

Jakarta, which is jammed everyday, is the picture that the book owner looks at. In the Street fragment, the depiction of Jakartans often spends more time on the streets compared to other areas. That said, the old term on the street also comes from the city of Jakarta.

For example in the opening article entitled Wangi Hujan. In this article, he revealed the daily activities of Jakarta residents who use public transportation, such as Microbuses. This mode of transportation is usually used to commute to and from the office. Uniquely, when you are a microbus passenger, the daily stories of Jakarta residents can be enjoyed.

"Conversation fills the small space of public transport. someone's mother started: ujan mulu ye pok, the laundry is not dry yet !. Like a tit for tat, the mother then gets a reply: yes, even though Molto has already given her, you know, it still smells or not, the problem is that it only hits the wind, there is no sun, ”wrote page 3.

There is also an article entitled Dunia 1 Ubin. It also tells about the daily activities of a resident who, to get to the office in Cibitung, he has to ride five different types of vehicles every day.

"... take a motorbike to the University of Indonesia Station, continue taking the train to Tanjung Barat Station, then take angkot number 19 to Pasar Rebo, then take a bus to the rest area km 19, and finally take a minibus to pick up employees to the office," page 10 .

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Human

In this fragment, people who live in Jakarta are told. Starting from the barber, villagers who still perpetuate the spirit of mutual cooperation, and urbanites who really miss the weekend.

The story begins with a pretty handyman in a small alley who is always friendly to his customers. It is from the barber that sometimes the public can learn that life must be acted with enthusiasm.

The same thing is told in the article entitled Enforcing (Into) Humans (an). This article tells the story of a villager who is the antithesis of Jakarta's famously individualistic life. Even though they are villagers, the nuances of togetherness and mutual cooperation still occur.

Complementing this, the story related to the life of urban office workers is the ultimate. Your readers can understand about disrupting calls to work on weekends. Which should be a day off before returning to busy activities again.

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Room

When reading the fragment of Ruang, the reader can find out about life in Jakarta that requires courage and practices the sentence: don't care. Whether it's for not caring about other people's business, not caring about what other people say, and not caring about other people's luxuries.

Then, the only thing that should be cared about is the matter of oneself. Others may recognize this ignorance as a lack of empathy. However, especially in Jakarta, ignorance has become a strategy for living a quality life.

"First, maybe a kind of statement that I am not very sociable to the point that it is cynical at heart that if I do not familiarize myself with the television media in this era, it is a fatal mistake. Second, is an answer that I don't care about. I don't know him yet, and I don't know what kindness he has ever done. It's sarcastic, ”page 31.

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Time

The matter of time is closely related to the many changes that have taken place in the scope of development of the City of Jakarta. Ojek for example. In the past, motorbikes were the most annoying mode of transportation. This is because every time they need their services, the bargaining phase often invites anger.

When bargaining could not find an agreement. The final words that came out of the ojek brother were none other than: just compare the taxi price? Better to take a taxi. "

Inevitably it makes the heart hot to the crown. Fortunately, times have changed. Jakartans also cheered when online motorcycle taxis began invading the capital. The offer of convenience, reasonable prices, and the accuracy of the pickup area is an advantage. That is why online motorcycle taxis have become the new prima donna in Jakarta.

Presumably, those are the fragments that are presented in this book. Overall reading story after story makes those who have lived in Jakarta brought back by the typical romance of the capital.

Moreover, the theme raised is so relevant to the stories of many people. To the extent that, each story written is as if it is the fun chat that is usually presented when gathering at a coffee shop. Whether it is when discussing matters of fortune, anxiety, to joy and sorrow, it is part of the 493 year old City.

Detail:

Book Title: Coffee (in) Jakarta: Street, Human, Space, Time Author: Ngojak Community First Publishing Time: 2017 Publisher: Epigraph Number of Pages: 68

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