Italuminium

Early in my stay in Jakarta I read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. You probably heard of it. I was particularly interested by the philosophical expedition on the concept of quality in the book. It kept coming back to me, and I (subconsciously) started to interpret my observations in this country, new to me, in these terms. Do I really recognize quality when I see it? As the Phaedrus character in the book, the concept just crept up all day, no matter what I did during the day.

One thing of Jakarta, is that true quality in the material sense is very hard to find. Everything is made with low grade plastics, and everything is disposable. The Indonesians do indeed dispose of everything, with little plan or care. Every inch of open space is filled with bottles and wrappers, bags and boxes. There is no waste removal service. All the bikes are generic Japanese boxes, nothing but fridges with an engine. Free space on the road? Every available space is filled by a motor bike, a nasty two-stroke polluter which claims so many lives annually, often with entire families on it's back. Bikes are knockoffs of English roadsters, or stupid MTB's, and are made from some horrible grade of steel that's just laughably inadequate for the hot and humid climate. All the buildings are hastily erected concrete moldings, done without care - even the library where I type this, opened in 2011 and the largest and one of the most modern in South East Asia, already shows huge cracks in the walls and badly neglected paint. People just don't care. Maintenance is a foreign concept. All the appliances are flimsy Chinese deathtraps, ready to melt or short-circuit at any time. Everything is just here for the moment, and choking the city or indeed the world (remember the plastic soup?) in the next. Millions of middle class people move from a prefab apartment to a prefab mall via a prefab office in an endless sea of waste and plastic, just spiced up by the ever mingling smoke of grilled chicken and exhaust fumes. Many more, those under that middle class of dinky appliances and dreary internal combusters live, ****, eat and die on the waste, with nothing but a few sheets of corrugated iron for a house. Above it all rise the towers of the rich, wherein cavernous appartments are sandwiched between Gucci shops and rooftop champagne lounges. It is brutally depressing. It is the sort of city that dystopian writers dream up in the comfort of their study. Dickensian, to use the nicest adjective for the worst human condition.

So much to my surprise, I found myself in the place that would be a material culture would heaven, were the concept of materialism and some kind of paradisal afterlife compatible. My Indonesian buddy took us to a club. A fairly new one, of the kind where a beer is your average weekly grocery expenditure. No girls with high heels, no chance. Filthy 1% place. Lots of fat guys with skinny girlfriends and stupid overweight watches. The music was good, though. We kindly thanked for the valet parking, not being too 1%-ish, and went in the garage ourselves instead. And dear Lord, was I in for a surprise. Apparently the place is owned by some billionaire who likes wheeled contraptions as much as the next guy, but with the money to buy everything he likes. Between the spaces for ordinary mortals he build a few glass-encased garages for his toys. By toys I mean Ferrari's. All generations of the Nissan Skyline, lined up next to each other, just for the heck of it. A motorcycle place, with Ducati's and some custom choppers. A room dedicated just to ye olde British motoring, with a perfect MGA. I was already somewhere up there, my head swimming with all the wine and spirits of the evening, elevated by the great food and amazing company I was in, so I wasn't sure if I had come to a real place or just the vehicular department of my imagination. Here everything was high quality, unique and maintained in perfect condition. Night and day, compared to the rest of this infernal town. And then it hit me. Between the Ferrari's, Ducati's, Lamborghini's in three colours, there was the Bike. Ferrari red too, unblemished and smooth perfectly filed lugs, clean, clean brazing. My friends wondered how somebody could be so mesmerized by just another red bike. I begged for another look, suddenly not so eager to dance and cavort in another loud and smoky place. There it was. A 3Rensho Super Record Pista. You recognize quality when you see it. The 1% bike. San Rensho, it sounds almost saintly. Religious in a hot-climate Catholic way. Suddenly I longed for the road again, to a place where one could actually bike, instead of being a hapless pedalling fish in an endless shoal of predatory motorbikes. It's been a while. Anyway, it was time to get in. May we meet again, San Rensho.

Orrery

Just writing to say I enjoyed reading your very well-written post. It was a nice way to start the morning, reading about a night-time encounter with a venerable bike.

blilrat

I wouldn't normally read a post this long, but it really pulled me in. That would make a great intro to a novel. I now await chapter two.

Chombi

You have to realize that the weather conditions (very high humidity and heat, plus all the rain from the monsoons) + Pollution fallout (soot and acid rain) over there is really hard on most materials and finishes. Paint on buildings just don't stand a chance of lasting more than three years before tuning into flaking pollution stained, and moss covered surfaces...that's why a lot of buildings look so junky/filthy in these countries. Just look at other countries in the same region and you will see the same thing going on with their buildings and other structures, unless there's enough "budget" (like in richer countries like Singapore) to keep things looking fresh.....otherwise, things just rot out much quicker in these areas compared to things in countries with more temperate climes....

Chombi

KvltBryce

Overpopulation at its finest...

It makes me ill to think of how horribly the human race has failed, and how it would really take a global shift of consciousness to save any shred of a chance to turn things around. I am; however, glad that you managed to find a retreat in all of this. A momentary escape.

That is precisely why I ride bikes. It takes me to an altered state of consciousness in which I do not dwell on the terrors plaguing out Mother Earth.

May I ask why it is you are in Jakarta, and not Holland?

KvltBryce

Great post, by the way.

It's nice to see some situational awareness in this myopic world.

Chombi

As Indonesia was a colony of the Dutch, I suspect that strong business and cultural ties between the two countries are maintained as I think there are also a lot of Indonesians also living/working in the Netherlands. A previous co-worker of mine who was born in Indonesia lived/worked and went to school in the Netherlands for some years. ......he even met Obama as a kid when he lived in Indonesia...

Chombi

KvltBryce

Ahhh, "you learn something new every day"


I'd love to see both places, get out of the U.S. for a while...

bibliobob

A fool knows the price of everything and the value of nothing, or something to that effect...

Italuminium

Thanks guys!

Chombi,
I'm indeed aware of the effect of the climate. Problem is, they used to build in what we dutch call "colonial" style, with one or two stories, a broad, low roof, with a veranda on all sides of the building. whitewash on the exterior walls, which as you surely know is easy to replace by anyone with half a brain and a broom, and cheap. Besides, it's pretty! Unfortunately, this isn't really a feasible style to build in anymore, due to the massive population pressure and shifting architectural tastes. Buildings build in a modern, concrete and glass style (like the library, or my app. building) just melt away like butter. Humans, too. We still have a saying in The Netherlands, that years in the tropics count double - and indeed, in many companies you got double pay for the years here, and they counted double towards your retirement age. I bet it's triple now, as the pollution is as bad as smoking a pack a day (or so the rumour goes).

Billrat,
thanks for the compliment! not sure if I'm confident in English yet to start a full blown novel, but you never know.

KvltBryce,
thanks too, and I'm here in Jakarta for thesis research.

unworthy1

if you're not "confident in English yet" I don't know when you will be! I can't believe that English isn't your primary language: your writing is already better than 99% of Americans.
And since I got in a "99%" reference: welcome to the "New World Order" vision of the 1%, it's strikingly similar to the Roman Empire...or is it to the Dark Ages? Banana Republic?

eschlwc

you're already much more gifted than pirsig. his is the most heavy handed book i've read since my early days stuck in sunday school.

well done.

ColonelJLloyd 

Well done, sir. I enjoyed it.

Zieleman

That's a well written post! It appears you and I think the same about that place.

As you may know, I visited Jakarta, also east Java and Bali. But when I also saw the way thailand works, it became clear that southeast Asia and probably the whole of China, Africa (don't know about South America) have such poverty and lack of education, that most people don't have any sense of durability, sustainability. They live in the moment. So if they need to dispose, the side of the street, the river, open sewer or the ocean is as good a place as any to dump it all. There's no sense of what tomorrow or the day after that might bring.

If a streetmerchant has a large roll of Rupia's in his pocket he lowers prices. If the Rupia's are little, he raises prices. If you take a trip on a boat to go diving or snorkeling, the crew throws out the anchor on one of the precious pieces of coral, not realising (time after time!) that it's the coral that bring him his business. Even the rich folks built there houses (50grand built you a palace) in the latest most extravagant style of architecture, which will be totally out of fashion in a couple of years. Not that maintenance is done to make it last that short time.

So when it comes to pollution, they don't have a clue what that's about. You can tell them it smells, but then again the open sewers smell a lot worse. Point is most people over there can't think ahead. Where I'm from sustainability is a social issue and it's been for a long time, but seeing southeast Asia made me weep inside. Your comment on the tropical years counting double gives me a bit of hope, that the realisation of sustainability may hit in twice as fast as it did where I'm from.

Is this still about bikes?

I like bikes.

Btw your English is outstanding (coming from a Dutchie)

LeicaLad 

Nice blog piece.

I've spent the majority of my life in S.E. Asia. I turned 20 in Afghanistan, 21 in Nepal, on my first trip heading towards the East. I was moving slowly. I came back to the US for a couple more years of university, and then headed back. This time I took bikes.

There are some sweeping generalizations here. Sorta stereotypic criticisms, like lumping all Americans – or all Dutchmen – into the same category. Asia, and it's many different peoples, is much more complex than is portrayed here. A critical visitor to any of our respective cities could make equally sweeping condemnations. The observations may, in fact, be true. Just don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. I repeat, however, that I liked your opening piece. Nice style.

So, Italuminium. What's your thesis on? I have a project in Sulawesi coming up. Are you interested in zoonotic spillover or environmental (human-animal interface) issues, per chance?

Cheers!

Zieleman

You are right about that. I'm trying to be critical with myself when I speak of my experiences in Indonesia & Thailand, but maybe the things I've seen there have made such an impact that I can't speak in an objective manner about it. It good that people (like yourself) point that out to me I guess...

LeicaLad 

No stress. I know I've said worse, publicly and in large forums, as I learned - or rather as I continue to struggle in my learning. . . One needs repeated impressions and, especially, extended impressions, gained from making time to go a bit deeper.

Anyway, I think the point of the thread was that one can momentarily step inside an entirely different world, and be transported by the juxtaposition of artifacts. I've been inside the homes of a rather wide range of educated Asian families with very eclectic and high-end tastes. The tastes in collections can really surprise. Keeping in the subject, there are some fabulous bike collections hiding in old world Bangkok, including vintage steel. Every now and then they hold a local rally/show. I'll have to find the link. It's all in Thai, but if you can load the large photos strings, you don't have to read.

Sorry to digress.

Italuminium

Thanks for all the kind words, again.

And LeicaLad, I'm probably as far as removed from your line of work as possible - my thesis is about the academic development of Indonesia, mainly dealing with the question of how students from different cultures in the colony got along with each other while in the new university of indonesia. But honestly, visiting some beautiful places and encountering all kinds of wonderful animals even in my apartment (yes, these cicak gecko's are so cool!) makes me wonder why I never majored in Biology

As you said it correctly, I used a lot of negative observations to make this story, but that's just writing and in no way representative for the total of my impressions here.

a bigger thread on biking is coming up, when I find the time to gather all my pics and notes for a coherent story, by the way.