More creative writing task ^__^' this is an edited version of Amel's blogpost entitled "Jogja Spotlight". I haven't waken up to my editing nature so, I'm pretty sure there are some things still not good and I might even turn Amel's fine work into something worse >___<
Here we go..
Jogja Spotlite
Among the many landmarks in Jogja,
Malioboro can be considered as the most famous. It is the name of a street in
Jogja, but this is not your regular street. Lining along the side walks are
vendors selling various merchandise unique to Jogja such as batiks and
t-shirts. There are also food stalls selling traditional foods. You can even find
art performances here at night. Another reason why Malioboro is the most
popular landmark in Jogja is because most of the tourist come visiting Jogja
will have Malioboro street under their list of destination.
Regarding the naming of these street,
there are two versions of rumours that has been spreading around. One version
said that the naming is taken from the name of an English gentleman,
Marlborough who came from U.K. and lived in Jogja during 1811 to 1816. The
second version said that the word ‘Malioboro’ is taken from Sasnkrit which
means “bouquet” because the street was always filled with bouquer of flowers
everytime ‘Keraton Jogja’ had celebration.
Near the shoutern end of the street is
another well-known in Jogja: Beringharjo traditional market. It is the largest
traditional maret in Jogja. Inside, we can find batiks and souveniers
available. This is a great place to show your bargaining skill because if you
are really good at it, you can have stuffs here discounted up to half the
price.
While you are enjoying your trip at
Jogja, here are two must-ride traditional vehicle in Jogja: the Pedicab and
‘andong’. While you might have already get a clearer idea on what pedicab is,
‘andong’ here is a carriage drawn by one or two horse. Back in the day, this
was the main transportation means along Malioboro street. However, these days
this horse carriage is still operational providing a nice traditional
sight-seeing transportation means for tourist or locals.Yogyakarta's identical
with Malioboro. Every person who took time here would have to come here. Until
now, this place still survives as the trade center and be one of icons of
Yogyakarta. There’re two history versions of Malioboro’s naming. The
first’s taken from the name of an English gentleman, namely Marlborough, a
resident of the United Kingdom in the city of Yogyakarta in 1811 AD to 1816 AD.
The second one’s taken from Sanskrit which means "bouquet", since
this place used to be filled with a bouquet of flowers when the Palace held
celebration.
Seeking further on the past Malioboro,
we have a little chit chat with Pak Siswo, a cabman who has dedicated himself
since the 70’s. He said that back than, andong
could only park in front of the entrance to Beringharjo Market. The road was
only for pedestrian. He also said that it was easier to earn for a living with andong back than. Roads were still
filled with andong and pedicab. There
were less hotels and more trees along the street. The one-way street was also
wider back than.
The present Malioboro still have many pedicab
and andong, but not as much as it was
back than. The pedestrian area is also widened so andong and pedicabs are allowed to park along the street. Those
traditional transportation are currelntly under Sultan HB X care since there
are licensing and attributes for those vehicles. This makes only licensed andong and pedicabs are allowed to
participate during certain Keraton’s event or celebration.
Urban development around the street
depends on Mayor who reigned, for example: previous Mayor wants putting plant
pots along the way, but now, the mayor wanta sidewalk's planted with grass, so
no more plant pots for giving a better view. Mostly large trees have also been
cut down for safety and there're a lot of street vendors selling batik or
souvenirs.
Life goes on , and the seasons kept
changing. Now, Pak Siswo considers his work not only as a way to earn money,
but also as an entertainment. Remember the increasing of the number of
competitors such as Trans Jogja bus, taxi, etc. Although he admitted that it's
difficult in earning money as a cabman today.
Now, since we have gone to the southern
part of Malioboro, get ready for what waits you at the northern part of the
famous street. Here it is, ‘Pasar Kembang’ or ‘Sarkem’. Located at the hearth
of the city, this place is the red-light district of Jogja. In the past, this
was a more organized prostitution area. However Sosrowijayan (the name of the
alley) has changed. Either it’s a matter of system or they way the prostitutes
behave and dress up. For private reason, the girls there are only given the
HIV/AIDS vaccination twice a month. Skill building was even completely removed
from agenda on 2010 so some of them were taken and the rest were stayed.
However, they still go to school and get lessons at least until Senior High. In
time, they're fully devoted themselves to be a prostitute and no longer rely on
the attendant to earn money and freely attract the visitors who are normally
coming from pupils and students. By doing so, they tend to wear miniskirt and
tank-top.
So in short, they seek for men so the
more visitors they served, the more money they got. Our interviewee's an old
woman who has settled in Sosromenduran for almost 65 years. Her name is
Mariyani , a widower who become the elder at Sosrowijayan Kulon RT 17 RW 03.
She has five children who are working as a tailor and hairdresser. When we
asked about the history of why people called this place as Sarkem, she gave us
a very clear explanation that it's no more than just a name of Street around
Malioboro, not place where the prostitution takes place, but Sosrowijayan. Back
then, Sosrowijayan, which has three hundreds or something inhabitans, became a
complex of kos-kosan as University of Proklamasi was established and inns for
sellers, mostly from Bandung and Jakarta besides as the residence of the
prostitutes or place for them to get money. They themselves mainly come from
Jepara, East Java and Cilacap so this place also gave a lodging for temporary
staying. Then, they should register to Bunga Seroja and will be announced to
others on the meeting later. That's how procedure is running.
The prostitutes were raised to get education like
others by the local citizens and build their skill in cooking and sewing. They
got regular vaccination every week to avoid HIV/AIDS. How they dress up
formerly like commoners and more polite –wearing a jeans or midi-skirt combine
with shirt or blouse-. They went to school in the morning and go working at
night until predawn. This prostitution's already exist since colonial period.
The visitors came from Indochinese people and artists. When they want to, let’s
call it, be ‘served’, they must ask attendant first so the prostitute just
stayed at inns and waited for the visitors. Around the 60’s, some of the
prostitutes were moved to place around Kotagede but then they returned due to
the government’s plan to build Giwangan Station. The situation was uncontrolled
and disorganized -so many drunken got into fight and mini nightclubs were
opened nonstop-.
