JAKARTA METROPOL

This is an actual twilight shot of my hometown, Jakarta, Indonesia. Overseas travellers (mostly kwai-lohs) may only know Bali in relation to Indonesia without ever knowing that Jakarta is the capital city of this archipelago of more than 17,508 islands.Alot of my Australian colleagues heard very little about it, and once asked me if Jakarta is comparable to Baghdad, or if it has a branch of KFC, or it has a building more than 3 storeys. I was abit furious. We might be classified as a third-world country, but if you ever landed in Jakarta, you'll be shock. Yes, the traffic is hopeless, the politics are unstable, the pollution is unbearable, the service is slow, but it is by no means undeveloped. The gap between the rich and poor is humongous, i must say: a few meters from first-grade skyscrapers, 5 star hotels, traffic and swankiest malls of a gargantuan size with a traffic of Mercedes, you'll find slump area where people still bath on polluted rivers. Another interesting facts: Jakarta also has 2 Hyatt hotels, 2 ultra-luxury Ritz Carlton hotels with the world's largest standard room size (at 63 & 73m2), the largest upmarket shopping mall in Southeast Asia (Grand Indonesia Mall), and it will soon houses the region's first Harvey Nicholls, straight from London. Jakarta has almost fully awaken from its dormancy during the great Asian crisis post 1997.Oh by the way, the building in the middle is my favourite: Wisma 46, which is the current tallest building in Indonesia at 250m, 50 storey. At the top floor lies one of my favourite dining establishments: Cilantro, a modern Asian bistro with commanding view of downtown Jakarta. The price surprisingly is very friendly to the pocket!.

Between 1912-1925, this building was the headquarters of N.V Bouwploeg, a Dutch firm. Then becomes 'Proviciale Waterstaat' until Japan invasion at 1942. They changed Bouwploeg as the headquarters of Japan Navy in Jakarta. In modern era, Bouwploeg becomes a mosque (since 1985) and has a new name "Mesjid Cut Mutiah" (Cut Mutiah Mosque) because it's situated on Jalan Cut Mutiah number 1."

Jakarta, Indonesia, is home to over 13 million people. Jakarta was the last Hindu kingdom of West Java when the Portugese arrived in 1522. They were driven out 5 years later by Muslim saint and leader Sunan Gunungjati, who renamed the city Jayakarta. In the 17th century the Dutch captured the city, fortified and walled it, and renamed it Batavia. Dutch colonial power came to an end after World War II when Soekarno declared the Republic of Indonesia. This time series of images shows the growth of the city from 1976 (6 million) to 1989 (9 million) to 2004 (13 million).