Color brightens lives
twixt rail and river
It’s embarrassingly compelling. Like a lecher at a bedroom keyhole the sight
draws and repels.
Trains heading west out of Malang station slip through a dense forest of
ramshackle houses. Rail companies usually
clear land flanking the line. Not here.
If the carriage windows opened passengers could snitch fruit off breakfast
tables. Check the washing lines - Wow! those
undies are so brief.
Safe behind tinted glass passengers squint into bedrooms and
kitchens while the occupants notice only moving metal. It’s rude, but it gives outsiders a chance to
see the intimacies of kampung life.
Now voyeurs don’t need to travel. Instead of furtive guilt-laden glances they
can see and be seen, strangers and locals on the same level discovering their
common humanity.
And leave many rupiah.
Although the entrance charge is only Rp 3,000 (US 21 cents) Kampung Kesatrian, aka Kampung Tridi (Three Dimension), visitor
numbers jump into the thousands on public holidays according to gatekeeper
Habibah, 26. (left)
“People come from Russia,
the Netherlands, Germany and Australia,” she said. “They hear about us from Facebook and the Lonely Planet tour guide.” Instead of tickets she gives souvenir key-ring
hearts she’s sewn.
Many among the 240 families squashed higgledy-piggledy
between the rail and the river Brantas have set up cafes and food stalls. Guests negotiating the narrow stairs and
streets can buy refreshments, then rest on the steps and seats.
If that was all, just a cramped urban village which lets
people pay to peer, then this story should end now.
However the tale is larger and more colorful. Literally, for every building, rooftop, wall
and sometimes even the sidewalks have been painted in pastels, green and
yellow, pink and orange.
On these backgrounds are murals of pop stars, Disney
characters, international landmarks like the Eiffel Tower
and wayang kulit puppets, jumping out
of frames to create a 3D effect. Leaping
lions are a favorite for this is Arema soccer heartland where fans reckon players
are the big cats, not oligarchs in Jakarta.
Before retiring Sutrisnanto, now 64, was a station official waving
all clear so locos could roll. In 2011 he
won a three-year term as Rukun Warga (RW), the local
administrative official.
The 240 families must reckon he does a signal job because
he’s been re-elected three times. Again,
what’s so unusual? Let’s turn the
page. No, don’t. This next bit is important.
The RW is a Catholic, his wife Anita Albertina a Protestant,
while almost all the other thousand residents are Muslims.
Readers may remember when former Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (Ahok) was jailed for
blasphemy. He was a Christian and some
Islamic authorities claimed a verse in Al
Koran means only Muslims can lead other Muslims.
Half a million placard-wavers
packed Jakarta’s
Monas Square 212 demo in early December 2016 to agree.
“That hasn’t been
the situation here,” said Sutrisnanto, “we’ve had no conflict.” While he was talking to The Jakarta Post a neighbor in traditional Islamic garb came for a
chat, seemingly unconcerned he was facing a cross and flanked by pictures of
Jesus; also present was a lady sweeping the floor for a service to be held in the RW’s living room.
So what are the problems?
“Trash. We’ve told everyone to
use bins but garbage still gets into the Brantas. We never see stuff thrown during the day but
some do at night upstream.
“This concerns me; I know foreigners who otherwise like our
village get sickened by seeing plastic on the riverbank.”
To underline his point a young Dutch couple wouldn’t get off
the steps leading to the water. “We
don’t see this in Europe,” they said staring
at putrid black blobs that didn’t invite close scrutiny.
Nor will they encounter anything quite like Kampung Tridi in their homeland or other
Western countries. The initiative
wouldn’t get past the first planning bureaucrat because nothing would meet
health and safety regulations, while public-risk insurance premiums would be
steeper than the railway embankment.
Motorbikes share space with pedestrians. Some lanes are just
one-person wide. Steps are uneven. Bricklayers forgot to use spirit levels and
the mortar crumbles easily. The paint,
supplied free by a manufacturer, covers many blemishes so visitors aren’t
repelled – unless they look too closely.
Away from the river everything is clean – which wasn’t the
situation a few years ago when tourists feared to tread.
“The kampung was filthy,” said Sutrisnanto. “We had petty crime, thieves, beggars, drunks
and drugs. The police were often called. Now we don’t even have security guards.”
He claims the turnaround came when residents decided they wanted
a better environment. Nearby were two
other painted kampung drawing tourists, so they went one better with 3D murals.
The key was not to look for advice from social workers or
get feasibility studies, but to return to the traditional Java principles of gotong royong (mutual cooperation) and musyawarah (consultation and consent.)
Meetings were held weekly. Jobs were found for layabouts so
they felt belonged. No government department
has been involved, so no concrete memorial signed by a minister.
“We did everything ourselves,” said Sutrisnanto stopping to
chat to a mixed group - two German women and a cluster of Jakarta Moms. “The
money from ticket sales is used for maintenance and to help widows, single
mothers and the poor.
“We distribute sembako (nine essential foods) to
households twice a year. All our income
and spending is audited and made public.
“As you can see, it’s
been a success. The secret is constant
communication, talking to people face-to-face, listening to their complaints,
advocating for them, explaining what’s happening and why.”
Which sounds like a formula for politicians to follow.
##
First published in The Jakarta Post 19 November 2029
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