Rani, 11, and Jelita, 8, watched boys playing futsal on a court within the Rasamala playground in Menteng Dalam, South Jakarta, while waiting for a session on traditional lenong Betawi comedy and traditional dance.

The girls, who both dream of one day becoming policewomen, said they were highly motivated to attend the lenong session at the playground every Saturday morning.

Rasamala is one of 71 children’s playgrounds established and inaugurated by the Jakarta city administration in 2015 and 2016 under the integrated child-friendly public space (RPTRA) program.

Under the program, initiated by Veronica Tan, the wife of Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, the administration is establishing such playgrounds across the capital to facilitate the children of low-income families in densely populated areas to play safely and to interact among themselves. Most of the playgrounds have been built with private funds through corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs run by donor companies and public funds allocated in the city budget.

A member of the governor’s staff, Renold Lim, said the city administration had prioritized the building of playgrounds in the poorest and most densely populated subdistricts, where they could also function as free centers for public and private social activities, including wedding ceremonies.

In an attempt to provide more room for the general public, the administration intends to build another 100 playgrounds across the city this year.

In accordance with their blueprints, all the playgrounds have football courts, air-conditioned libraries, breast-feeding rooms, restrooms and open meeting spaces for community activities and events. Some have additional facilities, depending on the size of the land.

For example, the Kalijodo playground in West Jakarta has a futsal court, while the Rasamala playground has futsal and badminton courts as well as classrooms for cultural courses.

It is at Rasamala playground that kids, like Rani, get lenong and traditional dance lessons from members of the Abang & None pageant alumni association’s South Jakarta branch.

An alumnus of the pageant, Sasti, said the children could also learn berbalas pantun (quatrain reading) at Rasamala.

Besides being supported by the teachers of dance and cultural courses, each of the playgrounds in the city is operated by six caretakers who oversee different things, such as character building, event organization and sanitation.

“When children first came to this playground, they used to speak disrespectfully even to older people. After we educated them, they speak and behave properly,” said Isma, a caretaker at the Rasamala playground.

Parents living near Rasamala commented that after the playground opened, children no longer had to play at public parks far away from home or on the street, which was unsafe.

“I play here every day, usually from 3 p.m. until 7 p.m. I am happy that I have this handy,” said Fadil, 13.

Just like Rasamala, the Kalijodo playground also attracts children to play and their parents to exercise and chat there.

Even though the construction of the Kalijodo playground has not been completed, it has already become an attraction for people of all ages from various places in the city.

“The playground is positive for kids in West Jakarta, where open spaces for children are rare to find,” said Mario, a caretaker in Kalijodo.

The Kalijodo playground was built in 2016 in a former red-light district. It now offers an open green space and a children’s playground.

“It is nice to have an open space for children to play near my house,” said Isti, 29, who takes her children to Kalijodo every weekend.

Ipin, 12, and Rizki, 14, said that because the grass futsal court in Kalijodo playground was still being developed, they were forced to play futsal on a cement court.

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