Mall Madness
Jakarta is a quickly developing metropolis. David and I have found this evident in the fact that large shopping malls can be found seemingly every three blocks. The malls seemed plucked out of an American neighborhood and are often juxtaposed next to poorly maintained roads, chaotic and crowded streets, and a low nest of labyrinthine electrical wiring overhead. While inside these malls, retailers inhabit air-conditioned, and organized reprieves from the hectic landscape outside. It feels as if I do not need my passport at all for these places. The signs are in English, the movies are in English, any body of text in any of the malls we visited was in English, and were it not for the constant embarrassment of trying to pronounce the few Indonesian phrases I know I could easily forget I was living as far away from home.
I was fortunate enough to organize a meeting with the Director of Finance and Economics at the US Embassy in Jakarta, during the sixth and concluding week of my fellowship. I asked him if he had found our observation of the abundance of malls to be exaggerated. He agreed and even joked we were understating the number. He explained the reason there were so many malls was a reflection of the unique economic, political, and social history of Indonesia. He further explained that after a series of coups Indonesia reached political stability in the 1990’s, during which time the country had its first truly democratically elected president. Before the election the social and political structure of Indonesia were deeply connected. The typically military leadership in charge of the country demanded a militaristic sense of hierarchy in governance and so questioning of authority or placement was typically absent. This mindset translated to the social structure and was seen in businesses, families, and most facets of Indonesian life. During this time Indonesia was profiting off of a manufacturing boom. Labor was cheap, and conditions were often poor yet because of the ingrained social structure changes to these conditions were typically not demanded nor required by the workers. He, concluded, saying that even as a contemporary democracy this mindset has stayed in many ways and the people and business are slow to request change. He said that the money from the manufacturing boom was heavily invested in shopping malls by the new democratic government, whether in an attempt to be inviting to tourists, to show a stark contrast between this government and the ones before, or to provide hundreds of quick jobs, he did not know but knew that many places in Indonesia require further investment before more shopping malls are implemented.
He noted that contemporary Indonesia is an incredibly young country in a world that is changing faster than ever and is optimistic that the economic, social, and political changes in Indonesia were for the benefit of the people and the country.
