What it's like to live in Jakarta, Indonesia?

Created on 19 November, 2024 | news | 127 views | 5 minutes read

What it's like to live in Jakarta, Indonesia?

Before moving to Jakarta, I thought the city was a mess. Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, is described in my mind as a slum village and traffic jam. Therefore, I never apply for a job in Jakarta. Even though it happened that I was destined to work in Jakarta, fortunately, my first job was in Bogor, the city bordering Jakarta. Some people believe Bogor’s lifestyle is comparable to Jakarta's, so I had the opportunity to train before moving to Jakarta. After moving here, I realized Jakarta is considerably more complicated than Bogor.

After more than two years of living in Jakarta, I have changed my mind. Although I still have a love-hate relationship with Jakarta, I will explain why this city is so special to me:

Imagine waking up on a Monday morning, driving or taking public transportation to work, but getting stuck in a traffic jam for 30 minutes to an hour, even though it usually takes 15 minutes to reach your desk from your home. Your supervisor then visits your desk to ask about your progress and why you did not answer the phone over the weekend. During your 9-to-5 workday, you must manage multiple clients, some of whom make you feel depressed. In addition, there are times when you are required to work unpaid overtime, which makes you want to scream at the top of your lungs, but you are unable to do so because of the terms of the contract you signed. You experience it daily and are unaware that it gradually triggers your burnout. You can hardly recall the last time you did not feel depressed due to your work.

However, as you drive or take public transportation home after completing your daily tasks, you notice several old people with pale faces and tired eyes. It gives insight into your parents’ efforts to raise you. There are also locations in Jakarta where you can meet homeless people living in their carts with their babies. Despite the stress of your workday, this view stimulates feelings of gratitude. Although I wouldn’t say I like the concept of being grateful by witnessing the suffering of others, it is the only thing I can easily do to help relieve my stress in Jakarta.

The fast-paced life teaches you to be independent

They said that 24 hours is not enough to live in Jakarta. I concur entirely with this statement. I will provide you with the illustration. You have just returned home from work and are lying on your bed while scrolling through Instagram. You do not realize that it is already 9 p.m., and you must order dinner. I asked some friends who also work in Jakarta, and they all said the same thing: they mostly sleep after 11 p.m. Compared to my hometown, Cilacap, 9 p.m. is when we prepare to bed. Therefore, there is a joke that Jakarta never sleeps. But living in this fast-paced life has taught me independence. As everyone is already busy with their own life, the only thing I can rely on is myself.

For example, when I was in Yogyakarta for college, I could call my friends to accompany me to visit new places. Still, in Jakarta, you must find a way alone because your friends can only accompany you next week, which is impossible. In my case, I have trouble remembering bus numbers and routes. Fortunately, Jakarta provides various public transportation options. If I am unsure about taking a bus due to its complicated route, I will simply order online transportation such as Go-ride, motorcycle transportation from a mobile application called Gojek.

To conclude, living in Jakarta for two years has increased my independence. It’s funny how I used to mock people living in apartment because they are labeled ignorant in their interactions with their neighbors. But now I believe that living in an apartment is a good choice because it allows you to focus on your family without being distracted by your surroundings. The tables have been turned.

This city of collaboration provides you with continuing inspiration

Jakarta allows you to work together to achieve your goals, in line with its tagline, “city of collaboration.” Well, my workmates and I even make a joke about this slogan because the tendency of people or companies to create a collaboration is mainly because it is the most reasonable thing to survive here. For instance, if you are having problems at work, you might try to contact someone knowledgeable about the problem you are working on. Usually, this occurs because you lack time to address the problem independently. Numerous tasks need to be completed as soon as possible. As a result, the quickest thing you can do is to contact your mentor or expert. But over time, this action becomes your networking strategy. You meet many amazing and high achiever people you never expected. They motivate you to be as great as they are. At least that happened to me.

The landscape in Jakarta is not as bad as I had previously imagined

As I mentioned in the first paragraph, I used to associate Jakarta with slum villages and traffic jams, which I believe is shared by most Indonesians. It turned out to be false because I witnessed how lovely it is. Every region has its unique character. Central Jakarta, with its impressive skyscrapers and the Monas icon — the Jakarta and Indonesian icon, West and East Jakarta, where village residents coexist with office buildings; North Jakarta with its north sea tourism; and South Jakarta, the central business district with many office buildings but some green open spaces. Not to mention some historical places and a wide variety of shopping malls from which you can choose based on your budget.

The slum village I used to imagine does exist, but only in a few parts of Jakarta, near the Ciliwung River, one of the worst rivers in the world (Waste4Change, 2018). As a result, all my bad stigma associated with Jakarta — aside from the traffic — started to fade. However, there is a significant problem that I was previously unaware of, and that is Jakarta’s water quality. Even though the water comes from a water supply company and has already been filtered, I am not brave enough to use tap water for cooking. Because numerous studies have demonstrated that the e coli bacteria have contaminated Jakarta’s tap water. Consequently, I should provide at least two gals of mineral water each month.

To sum up, Jakarta has both advantages and disadvantages. If there is one word to describe Jakarta, it would be “complicated.” Therefore, the Indonesian government decided in 2019 to relocate the country’s capital to Kalimantan Timur. By the way, after obtaining my master degree, do I decide to return to Jakarta? I’d rather not. So, do you think the last paragraph summarized my experience?