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ust like many of the world'€™s capital cities, people from the archipelago'€™s many regions flock to Jakarta in search of employment, investment opportunities and leisure activities.

The people that make up the rich cultural tapestry of the Big Durian are drawn to the city for all sorts of reasons.

Employment

Jakarta is a city of commerce and government, with state institutions, ministries, government offices and thousands of private companies all based here, and all of these places require employees.

People from all walks of life and with different skill sets, including the unskilled, come to Jakarta to better themselves.

Dadang, a 27-year-old Transjakarta bus assistant, said that he left his hometown in Kuningan, West Java, to find a job in Jakarta.

'€œIt was difficult to find a decent job that paid well in my hometown. That'€™s why I moved to Jakarta,'€
he said.

Business

Many unskilled people and school dropouts come to Jakarta to work in the formal and informal sectors. Some establish restaurants that cater to the middle- and high-class market and others run warteg (acronym for warung Tegal, a low-cost food stall run by people from Tegal regency, Central Java), food stalls and housing compounds.

Tantamount to their business acumen, many have built luxurious houses in their hometowns just by selling bakso (meatball soup) or run wartegs.

Dasniah, who is originally from Tegal and runs a warteg with her husband in Slipi, West Jakarta, shared a few pearls of wisdom: '€œIf you want to open a food stall in Jakarta, the trick is to find a crowded area where many middle-class people work and then you'€™re set.'€

Some professionals are attracted by the opportunities for development projects in government offices and private companies and many tycoons established their businesses in the city.

Shopping

American fashion stylist Rachel Zoe said: '€œStyle is a way to say who you are without having to speak.'€

Many people from the regions come to Jakarta for the shopping opportunities it affords.

They come to Jakarta for the big malls, such as Senayan City in South Jakarta, Grand Indonesia and Plaza Indonesia in Central Jakarta, which sell branded-fashion brands.

Private bank employee Christiany Nurcahaya Hartati, 25, said that she loved Jakarta because it had plenty of places to buy the fashion brands that she wanted.

'€œThe variety of branded clothes in my hometown [Medan, North Sumatra] is nothing compared to Jakarta,'€ she said.

Health care

For people living in the eastern regions, such as Papua and West Papua, Jakarta is the only place they can get better medication. While for those living in Aceh, North and West Sumatra and Riau, the city is second only after Penang in Malaysia or Singapore.

Budi Harto, a retired civil servant living in Berau, East Kalimantan, said that he visited Jakarta in January for treatment for a pinched nerve in his back because his hometown lacked the facilities to handle his health problem.

'€œI underwent the surgery at the Siloam Hospital in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta in January. Although it was expensive, I feel better now,'€ he said.

Education

Besides Yogyakarta and Bandung in West Java, Jakarta is known for its educational institutions.

Recent high school graduate Irwan Surya said that after graduating from a private high school in Surabaya, East Java, he would continue his study at the Medicine School at the University of Indonesia (UI) in Salemba, Central Jakarta, because he considered it to be the best school of its kind in the country.

'€œHowever, it is not easy to get a seat at UI because it only accepts around 40 people from thousands of potential students,'€ he said. '€œI will not give up. I will go to Jakarta to live my dream.'€ '€” JP