An Invitation
I have long pondered the existentialist question of a tree falling in a forest, but there being no-one there to hear it. Does it make a sound?
For all my occasional bleating about the lack of footpaths, parks and playspaces here in Jakarta, no-one seems to be listening. Am I making a sound?
There are very few bloggers writing in English (or Indonesian come to think of it) here. Consider
the scene in London, a city of comparable size, albeit with an infrastructure moulded by its citizens and town planning laws which are generally adhered to. For example,
Inspector Sands reports on what is happening in my old stomping ground of South East London. The
Diamond Geezer, who is a standard setter for community bloggers everywhere, keeps his posts about London
here and is providing an evolving overview of a city to be proud of.
The community of bloggers in London is a mutual aid society, covering
transport and much more.
Google
Open Guide*London and you get 4,300,000 entries.
Google
Open Guide*Jakarta and you get 290,000 entries, the majority related to
computer nerd stuff.
This is about to change. Hopefully.
Jakartass has joined forces with
the Reveller to create
Jalan-Jalan Jakarta, which translates roughly as
Round and About in Jakarta. The banner illustration on the site, which is about ready to be used, is by
Derek Bacon, author of
Culture Shock-Jakarta.
The aim is to offer a blogging forum with an exclusive focus on Jakarta. Postings will be sorted into categories such as transport, consumer affairs, corruption and whatever seems appropriate to life here. We hope that Brandon, who has a wonderful photoblog,
Java Jive, and Bart, who mails out the
Indonesian Expat Newsletter to 4,000 subscribers, will feel able to contribute on a regular basis.
If you are a blogger and/or have something to say and write about Jakarta,
you are invited to join us.
Please email
The Reveller or me,
Jakartass. Please include your phone number, and hopefully we can all meet sometime, hopefully at Bugils, Bart's place in Taman Ria.
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