Comment: Jakarta: The city you love to hate

June 14, p1

Jakarta has always been the city that people love to hate, for residents, expatriates and visitors alike.

So when an opinion piece published online named Jakarta as one of the world’s 10 most-hated cities, the Jakarta Tourism Agency appeared unsurprised, saying, with sangfroid, that there was nothing to worry about.

Your comment:

Actually, the city has a lot to offer. It has character and soul, which mainly comes from the people. But for tourists, it is always difficult to get around because there are insufficient facilities for them to navigate the city.

But I could not agree more on the horrendous traffic and worsening pollution. Although efforts have been made to curb the situation, it is still not enough.

I have seen people littering from taxis, cars and motorcycles everyday and everywhere. There is no sense of belonging in the city.

It is not an easy job to bring Jakarta to the level of Singapore or Hong Kong (in term of cleanliness, livableness, etc.) but it should start somewhere. Get the people to realize the importance of small, little deeds like not littering
or spitting.

Regarding the traffic, I rest my case. The small and medium enterprises (SMEs) should be given incentives to move their premises downtown.

A whole lot of things need to be planned and done for this.

Anja Rulan Putra