Anissa S. Febrina, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Under the scorching sun on a Thursday afternoon, a group of students going home from school pass by National Monument park in Central Jakarta.
Not far from there, a couple of men from East Kalimantan take snapshots, a family from West Nusa Tenggara eat together in the shade of a tree and some teenagers play soccer.
The monument is locally referred to as the Monas, and the park surrounding it remains the largest public space in Jakarta.
Built in 1961, the 137-meter-tall monument became the first landmark after the declaration of independence and the park surrounding it was used for celebrations.
In the late 1960s, then-governor Ali Sadikin held the city's annual fair, Pekan Raya Jakarta, in the park.
Strategically located in the heart of the city, the week-long fair was always crowded until the city administration moved the venue to Kemayoran in North Jakarta in 1991.
Things changed after that.
The park was still a public place, but not quite as it was before.
Later in 2002, the Jakarta administration built a 3.2-meter-high fence around the park ""to create order"" in the area.
Town planner M. Danisworo, who is also head of the city's Urban Architecture Planning Team, agreed the fence had indeed created order.
An order that comes with being at the center of the government area in Medan Merdeka, Central Jakarta.
The park is now only crowded during events like the Jakarta 10K, or one-offs like city anniversary commemorations.
On weekdays, like the rest of the Medan Merdeka area, it is as though the public is not welcome, although the high gates remain unlocked.
The only ""crowd"" there on weekdays comprises police officers who stand ready to defend the park against possible protesters.
Weekends are the perfect time to visit the Monas.
Families get about in horse-pulled carriages, groups of mature-aged people practice Tai Chi and joggers get some laps of the park in, before it gets hot.
Later in the afternoon, parents take their children to see the ""singing, dancing"" fountain, which was installed in 2004, while lovebirds occupy wrought-iron seats under palm trees.
This year, the city's annual Independence Day ceremony will be held in the park.
With or without a fence, it is still a public space.
