My Beloved Jakarta A City Belonging to Everybody

            Jakarta is my city. It is a proverb for Jakartan kids. I was born in Jakarta and grew up here. I am so happy to happy to have been born in the capital city where everything is available. If you need something to eat,  just go out to a restaurant; if you want to go for sight seeing, you just take a  type of transportation suitable for your need. In short, you can get whatever you need and want here.

However, there are black sides of this city such as traffic congestion, air pollution, garbage, flood, crime and many more. In addition, it is not easy to live here, let alone for the migrant. Here we must compete one another to get a job, otherwise we will be the jobless who only clutters this city. Anyway, Jakarta is still promising place to live and work; in fact, there are still many people wanting to live here.

Jakarta can be a never ending chat; countless things can be topics to talk about. Jakarta has a great number of interesting things such as skyscrapers along its main streets, luxurious buildings, and shopping malls, historical places and even its inhabitants. To be honest, Jakmania is the most attractive for me; it has been my focus of attention for all my life here. But what is Jakmania?

It is a term for fanatic supporters of Jakarta Soccer Club or Persija. Orange is their pride of colour and identity. Iam also a Jakmanian and of course I take a high pride of belonging this gang. Being Jakmania seems to be giving a sense of my own city. Here in this city my parents earn a living for me, something to bring me up. This way, I show my deep gratitude and pay my all indebtedness to Jakarta.

 Why Jakmania? The reason is that it is a big supporter of a soccer club named Persija. Soccer is the most populous entertainment— everyone may enjoy it. The Jakmania is one of the forum for Jakartan to meet intensily— people of all ages, sexes, and other backgrounds. It is in this forum that we interact, develop sense of brotherhood and create sense of toghtherness.

 The most impressive to be Jakmanian is when we sing and yell; here we can express our emotion, release ourselves from boredom of busy city and feel the pride of being a true resident of this large city. Nontheless, people view us in a variety of ways. THAT’S ALL RIGHT. Regardless of how divergently people view us, The Jakmania, we are an integral part of Jakarta.

I love Jakarta so much and I translate it by doing the best for this beloved capital. Not only do I join the Jakmania, but I also do such small and trivial yet important things like throwing trash or garbage in its proper place, using the public transportation politely and, the most crucial thing, being a good student and I study hard at school to be a member of the future generation of Jakarta.

This was my written in celebrate Jakarta's Birthday.

Translated by Mr. Ponco A. Kardomo