TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Planet Senen Youth Center in need of a revamp
SPORTS VS
Change Size
SPORTS VS. ARTS: Children and teenagers huddle at the Planet Senen Youth Center swimming pool in Central Jakarta. The sports section is the only part of the center that is still lively and popular among youths today.
Mentioning the Planet Senen Youth Center to today's youths will only attract raised eyebrows and puzzled looks.
"What is that?", "Where is it?", most people will ask.
Located next to Pasar Senen station and across Senen bus terminal, the 21,746-square meter youth center stands on a 34,060-square meter block of land. Once a meeting place for young poets and artists in the 1960s, the center no longer attracts the big names it used to.
The center was inaugurated by the then governor Ali Sadikin on August 27, 1974, as part of his efforts to improve the area's condition.
Before it was built, the area was infamous for its high crime rate. Every kind of crime, such as pickpocketing and prostitution, occurred there.
The governor established the center hoping it would help turn the area into an arts and cultural hub for youths.
The center was named Planet Senen because during the time of its construction, there were many round buildings in the area.
Today the center has a theater and an indoor sports facility. It houses routine activities, such as vocal training, traditional dance, sewing classes, poetry, painting and drama classes, while the sport facility is used for basketball, badminton, karate and Indonesian martial art pencak silat.
Indonesian poet Chairil Anwar, famous for his poems "Aku" (I) and "Antara Karawang - Bekasi" (Between Karawang and Bekasi), used to hang out at the center.
Coordinator of Komunitas Planet Senen (KoPS) Imam Maarif, said after independence, when Jakarta became the capital, many came to Jakarta to be urban artists.
He said at the time, Planet Senen gave artists a space, which allowed them to stay and learn about life in the city. Not only was it a place to create artworks and stage performances, it also inspired artists who lived among the hardships of those around Senen market, he added.
"Rumor has it many poets came to this area to visit prostitutes; it was infamous for that," he said.
Historian Alwi Shahab said the Senen prostitutes were later moved to Kramat Tunggak, North Jakarta, by governor Ali Sadikin.
Imam, who has been teaching poetry and performance since 2000, hopes to revive the center into the arts and cultural hub it once was.
"We want to invite local residents to participate in our events. It is important to give a little cultural touch to the area," he said.
Imam said the center's popularity began to fade because later in 1970s, most poets and artists started to go to arts center Taman Ismail Marzuki (TIM) on Jl. Cikini Raya.
"I want to use this center to nurture artistic talent here and stage it at TIM," he said.
In 2005, the city administration planned to revitalize the whole Senen commercial area, including the bus terminal and station. However, the revitalization plan has not begun.
