Mall culture is never originally invented here. Our ancestor, or even mums, used and still go to traditional market for their alternative retail therapy. Be it for daily household supply, to find traditional munchies or medicines, to replace worn down curtain in the house with the new lush one, to get fabrics for big day's new outfit, or simply for the heck of having rendezvous or nostalgic activities alone and with friends. It is part of our culture that hardly can be shed, but why lately our city development bureau is so obsessed to turn Jakarta into a mall jungle?
I couldn't agree more with the change of that chaotically disturbed and *full of pickpocket' Tanah Abang market into more civilized and safer place as a mall. But there is a semblance of sadness and resentment I felt when I hear Mayestik market in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, is about to be the next revamp project.
Unlike any other market, Mayestik has its own nostalgic value, from selling traditional kaki lima foods that will bring you back to your childhood memory to providing huge selection of fabrics to create your new office or *euphoric once in a life time' attire. Many fashion designers found Mayestik market is a convenient place to hunt for materials with competitive prices compare to those fabric shops located in central Jakarta.
Even if you're not a designer you can exercise your fashion sense with the help of friendly shopkeepers that will help you suggesting which materials should be used for what you need, and offering what other options can be done in terms of style choice. Then you can head to the tailors near by to get your outfit done. There are plenty of trimmings and embellishment selections to choose too, which will make your experiment with fashion here more stimulating.
It's also part of the fun to enjoy the food feast like ice podeng after kue ape, and ice cendol after mie ayam between your shopping. Not to mention, it's a paradise for my confectioner friends too with tons of choices for baking utilities and huge selection of cake ingredients, including those rare ones for making traditional Chinese and European delicacies.
It offers many shops for interior designer or just *own personal decorator' such as myself as well to supply our home improvement projects. I've done half of my apartment interior treatment from this modest place. From kitsch style to Rococo to modern minimalist replica, you name it, you'll find everything in this time-tunnel like market. So when I was there last Sunday to renew my sofa cover, I sensed somberness from my interior shop guy regarding to this mall plan.
He and the rest of the market tenants feel agitated with the new raised rent rates for the up coming mall. With that new arrangement, they'll never know if their shop will be placed as strategically as where they are now. As we're all known, not all isles in high rise mall can be potentially consumer sucker. As for me it's just disorderly chaotic to imagine on the later stage when they have to relocate temporarily, stack in a mess from what used to be authentic, peaceful, safe and fun shopping location.
Will there be anymore place here to be originally kept without being uniformly made up? There are things live in the city should not be polluted by urban trend, especially in the fast growing super malls competition like Jakarta, soon enough what used to be unique and authentic is crushed to become *ethnic Saks Fifth Avenue' space wannabe.
While grand mega malls are trying to be *nationalist' by selling *chic' traditional product with - of course - higher price, why must kill the original old fashion market by replacing it with gimmick blah of shopping mall? Where would be the art of the city? Are we going to stuck all the way in ITCs and experience the joy of exploring traditional market only if we're out of Jakarta?
As we are all aware Jakarta is still full of slump places that need some repairing, is it just part of our custom to substitute our main problems with unnecessary little changes in order to shift our eyes from the bigger annoying frame? Hello, what's next to that paused monorail project along Jl Rasuna Said, officials? Aren't those chunky jagged crossbars big enough to disrupt our vision while jamming the traffic there?
So please, just leave Mayestik market as it is and be it Jakarta's market culture conservatory for authentic sake!
- Diaz
