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Opportunity cost or opportunism?
The battle between Rumah Cimanggis and the UIII is not simply about preserving one of Indonesia’s many neglected national heritage sites versus the building of an Islamic university campus.
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An old abandoned building. Rumah Cimanggis was built in 1775 and was the vacation home of governor general Petrus Albertus van der Parra of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). It is now in complete disrepair and is set to be torn down to build the Indonesian International Islamic University (UIII). (Antara/Indrianto Eko Suwarso)
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pportunity cost — we all experience it daily. Do you want to go to that movie you’ve been wanting to see, or prepare for an exam you really need to pass? Take a vacation or buy a new car? Mine is the choice to lose weight or continue eating cakes, chocolate and crisps. Some choices — like mine! — are no-brainers, while others require more careful consideration.
Is the ongoing outcry surrounding the demolition of Rumah Cimanggis, a historical building in Depok, West Jakarta, to make way for the Indonesian International Islamic University (UIII) also a case of opportunity cost? Let’s check it out.
Rumah Cimanggis was built in 1775 and was the vacation home of governor general Petrus Albertus van der Parra of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). It is now in complete disrepair and is set to be torn down to build the UIII (see “Cultural Buildings neglected in Depok”, The Jakarta Post, Dec. 28, 2017)
Although the house was listed as a cultural heritage building in 2011 and 2013, nothing was done to preserve it because the Depok administration does not have a cultural heritage expert team. Naturally, it deteriorated even more.
Now that there are actual plans to tear it down, historians like JJRizal, and Ratu Farah Diba, head of the Depok Heritage Society and others, protested and drew up a petition to save the building from being demolished.
But apart from Rumah Cimanggis’ historical value, there is also the environmental impact of building the campus. According to Heri Syaefudin, coordinator of the Green Forum Community (FKH) of Depok, the decision to build the university bypassed the city’s spatial regulations. The area on which the UIII is slated to be built was actually intended to be a green open space, so plonking a campus on top of it is clearly a no-no.
But is it necessary to build the university at all? There are already so many Islamic educational institutions across Indonesia, amounting in total 378. As Rizal says, why not just maximize the ones we already have?
