Monas Park*

Monas Park*

Trees planted in Monas are now growing into shady woods, There are such little charms as wandering leisurely through it as through Nature’s Chapel, treading on golden acacia pollen, hearing de woods resound with choirs and echoes of singing insects, seeing the green leafage of the bamboo, or the King Palm burst into showers of blossoms, seeing the lace-like silhouette foliage against the sky, watching the floating clouds pass by like subtle thoughts or feelings, hearing the busy chatter and twitter of hundreds or perhaps thousands of Jalaks (Starlings) and sparrows high up in some tall mahogany tree at dawn and on their return at sunset, breathing the fragrant soft scented air of woods and blossoms, … How cool its shade, how fresh the morning breeze.

I’d even found a “boiling” spring from some underground broken PAM water-pipe, making lovely shallow pools of unusually clear water, then gently flowing further like a rivulet. In it were tadpoles, water-snails; an occasional fish was sporting among the grass and weeds as water-plants; while delicate damselflies were hovering, perching and swaying on its leaves as though on fancy trees and bushes along its banks. It’s funny, no one cares to see it. It would be fine if we could have some intentional “leakages” made instead, as to create more permanent springs, pools and streamlets, at least for birds to drink and frogs and dragonflies to breed.

There is a stately young waringin, but no deer to graze and rest there, coconut trees but no squirrels to play hide-and-seek; woods, fields without chameleons, big tree-spiders, forest-ants, fireflies, grasshoppers, chirping crickets, cicadas that sing in the breeze; ponds without a duck-family or water-birds, frogs, fish, water-lilies; no flowers that should invite bees and butterflies and not to forget the little snails, looking like fairy-tale sledges or tiny sailing boats, sliding and sailing up and down on stalks and leaves. How I wish them to be there.

It’s people that are doing most of the harm as they flock or swarm like ants, leaving much dirt and rubbish behind.

Someday, Monas should become Jakarta’s pride, growing so large in area by then that it would include Lapangan Banteng, Istiqlal mosque, the Cathedral, Imanuel Church, the Palace and the Ciliwung river flowing through it. Perhaps we’d see the storks and herons visiting Jakarta again as in former times; sailing, gliding and vanishing away as in a dream or the close of some wonderful song.

Indonesia Times, July 8, 1986

*This was in 1986

February 2011