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Jakarta Post

New park brings back traditional games

Grand strategy: Toro (second left) plays damdas tiga batu (traditional Jakartan chess-like game) with his two friends and the father of one of his friends at Tomang Rawa Kepa Park on Sunday

The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
Wed, December 11, 2019

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New park brings back traditional games

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rand strategy: Toro (second left) plays damdas tiga batu (traditional Jakartan chess-like game) with his two friends and the father of one of his friends at Tomang Rawa Kepa Park on Sunday. The newly refurbished park is equipped with various traditional games.(JP/Alya Nurbaiti)

One Sunday morning, 38-year-old Suhendri followed his son around a park, crossing a wooden bridge and climbing a tree fort, while keeping an eye on his two daughters playing on a wooden swing.

His was one of the many families who were enjoying a revamped park near the Tomang overpass in West Jakarta, a six-minute motorcycle ride from Suhendri’s home in North Kota Bambu district.

“It’s good to bring them here,” Suhendri said, adding that thanks to the park, he did not have to go all the way to Bogor, West Java, for a little fresh air and a day of fun for his children.

The Tomang Rawa Kepa Park in Grogol Petamburan subdistrict, West Jakarta, recently underwent a major facelift that transformed it from an unattended plot of land into an 18,000-square-meter playground.

“It’s not open yet, but people have been coming here for the last two weeks,” said Hambali, a guard from the West Jakarta Forestry Agency, which runs the park.

He said according to the information he received, the park would be inaugurated sometime next week.

Unlike most renovated parks, this one offers a somewhat unique attraction for children: near-forgotten traditional games that were once played by Baby Boomers and Generation Xers before the digital age of gadgets and video games.

The games include taplak gunung (hopscotch), with the required nine squares already drawn on the ground. In other parts of Indonesia, the game is also known as engklek, gedrik or sudamanda.

There are two congklak (mancala) boards and the beads needed to play the game, which is called dhakon in other regions.

Other games offered include terompah (three or more people walking on connected wooden sandals), egrang (stilts), bambu pletokan (toy gun made from bamboo), damdas tiga batu (traditional Jakartan chess-like game) and wooden cars.

“These were my childhood games. Now, I get to teach my children how to play them,” said Hana, 29, a visitor. The park has attracted young couples as well.

“This is unique. I don’t find this anywhere else,” said 26-yearold Pujianto while playing congklak with his wife.

The West Jakarta Forestry Agency used fallen trees and trimmed branches to build the park.

“I hope this could serve as an example that it doesn’t have to cost much to make a park,” agency head Firdaus Rasyid told The Jakarta Post.

The park is not part of the Taman Maju Bersama (TMB) program initiated by Governor Anies Baswedan, so it does not use any city funds. The TMB program is a green space concept conceived by the governor to help curb air pollution, as well as add to the city’s open green space ratio, which is currently far below the 30 percent requirement stipulated in the 2007 Spatial Planning Law.

In 2015, according to the Jakarta Forestry and Public Cemetery Agency, less than 10 percent of Jakarta’s 661.5 square kilometers comprised open green spaces.

Firdaus said the Tomang Rawa Kepa Park was not the first to use scrap materials. He earlier used the concept for the Kembang Kerep Park in Kembangan subdistrict.

The park also serves as a water catchment area equipped with 11 infiltration wells. For Suhendri, the park is a chance for him to spend more time with his children.

“They are so exposed to gadgets, playing it all day long,” said Suhendri, echoing a common problem expressed by young parents. (aly)

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