a modern silk route 2

Marsh is not swamp. There is light. Light that help plants grow. Plants that grow on water. Water that flows into the light.

Jakarta is not a swamp. It is home to over 10 million people. There is life there and most certainly, growth. And there is water too! Largely from poor urban planning and lackadaisical infrastructure that causes roads to flood within an hour of a downpour. 

Still, it is not a swamp because of the spirit of the people here. Their streets may be flooded. Their homes may be flooded. Yet, they find ways to make ends meet; even the very cause of their wet homes become a source of income.

I first experienced this 20 years ago. We who live in the tropics know all about the monsoon season and the torrential rains that come along with that. The downpour gets so heavy that even a 10 metre walk without shelter will get you drenched.

Enter the umbrella kids. When the rains come, so do these kids with these portable canopies that shelter the office workers to their cars. Their bedrooms may be filled with water and who knows, maybe their clothes and bags and books too, but here they are keeping grown men and women from getting a little wet. For that, they get 5000 rupiah, or 50 cents. 

And as the roads get flooded, the drivers instinctively know how to navigate their way out of that. No GPS required. Besides, there were no Google maps back then two decades ago. A single muddy lane between squatter homes become a major thoroughfare with traffic going both way with the help of self-appointed wardens, who occasionally get a 1000 rupiah tip and there is apparently a system of who and went to tip. 

Then there are jockeys. The roads in the city centre can get so choked up during rush hour that even without rain, the jam can get really bad. Its simply because there are too many cars for the amount of roads they have. And most of the cars have merely two occupants: a driver and the owner. So, some smart government official had a brainwave. Enforce car pooling. Only cars with three or more people are allowed in the city centre at rush hour. So enter the car jockeys. Some barely older than my 5 year old son then. They get into a car with strangers at one end of the city and get out at the other, all for 10000 rupiah. I wanted to pay more but my driver said I would only get them in trouble if they cannot raise the tips in future.

My kids grew up in Malaysia and Singapore blissfully unaware that kids just a couple of hours of flight away had to scrap for a living this way. 

So you see, dear reader, swamps can be turned into marshes. These memories of Jakarta can never be erased from my mind and i guess along with that the resolve to do something right for the world so yoing kids can grow up well. 

I am here to meet the ambassador and officials of UK and after a successful business trip here discussing programs that will improve this country's (and the region's) infrastructure and cities (esp in the context of adapting to climate change), improves it  health service and education standards and help progress tem economically, it is apt that i begin my modern silk route journey just as D begins here from modern sunny Singapore. We will meet in 8 hours in Doha.