Flooding - A Grand Day Out

Some curse the rain, the government or just about anyone else but themselves. Others raise funds, but don't have a clue who needs their help most they collect first, ask questions later. And some enjoy the "flood tour"!

One of the most amazing sights of the last month was recorded between the two overpasses in Kebon Baru, Tebet, South Jakarta, where heavy rains and inflow from Bogor had turned the low-lying land into a lake.

Hundreds of people gathered together, stepping around parked motorbikes to take handycam or camera-phone footage of the rare sight.

Rare? But doesn't it happen every five years?

"This bigger," said a man who was busy shooting and sending pictures via his brand new Nokia phone, momentarily forgetting that chest-deep muddy water filled his home in Bukit Duri, some 10 minutes drive away. Apparently without insurance he could not quite fathom out that he was a victim with little chance of getting any financial assistance to repair the damage.

Not only did they see the calamity as a photo opportunity but many appeared to be enjoying the cool weather and the spectacle.

A teenager parked at the overlook" tentatively snuck an arm around his girlfriend's waist. Parents encouraged their children to test the waters, probably rationalizing "it'll save us a trip to Ancol".

Once in a while, there was live-action entertainment as rescue workers battled to reach flood victims.

All that was missing was the popcorn.

Oh, wait, there's a gorengan (deep-fried snack) vendor, and there's another selling candy and cigarettes. The only thing keeping bakso (meatball soup) vendors from pushing their gerobak (carts) through the waters was a police patrol car blocking the way. Aaawh, too bad!

As sociologists often point out, Indonesians have the curious ability of being able to turn even the most grueling moments into enjoyable ones, especially those who have thus far survived the test of being dirt poor in the capital.

And, anyway, Jakartans are curious by nature. It doesn't take much for people to stop minding their own business. Crowds of onlookers are quick to form at crime scenes. Rubbernecking is a national pastime, “look a plane crash – get the barbecue out”, “wow, that volcano has just erupted, tell the rest of the village to come and see”, “ah shit, another flash flood, where’s the fucking surfboard when you need it”!

"It would be more stressful if we let ourselves cry. We might as well try to be grateful for what we still have," said a woman who was forced to sleep, eat and do her laundry in a public cemetery in Central Jakarta after her home flooded.

Many of the flood tourists on the Tebet overpass were also victims. Standing on the shores of the "man-made lake" was probably a better alternative than wading through the water in their homes.

Foreigners are often amazed by how resilient Indonesians are. Well, living in disaster-prone locations with people who couldn't give a toss about the environment means that they have to be.

But there is a very thin line between being resilient and being permissive".

The first means they bounce back after a fall, while the latter traps them in a vicious circle.
Temporarily enjoying the sight of the flood and then going back home and thinking they should do something so they don't have to see something like that again is being resilient.

Temporarily enjoying the sight of the flood and then returning to the same level of environmental ignorance while jokingly saying that "we are not Jakartans, if we are not flooded," is, not only being too permissive, but just being a pure fuckwit.

Anyway, don’t worry if you missed it this time, it will happen again because no fucker will do anything to resolve the problem. The cause cannot be eradicated, but the effect can be minimised, that is, if the greedy fat cat motherfuckers who can do something about it can be bothered!