It has been quite sometime. Everybody had been talking about the big flood in Jakarta. Firstly, I have to apologize that I had to skip on the topic. Why? It would be unfair for me, who has neither experienced the flood first hand nor lived in Jakarta to write as if I knew anything on the matter. There are many experts out there, activists who have lots to say. There are even more out there, people who are directly affected by the flood and its repercussions. They have things to say too. I don't.
However, I do have a few things to say about flood, because floods have been a part of my life. I was born in the very city that inspired the song "Semarang Kaline Banjir" (Semarang, the flooding river). It was never as big as the recent one in Jakarta, though. The last big flood in Semarang happened when I was a baby, so I would not have remembered a thing. Nonetheless, big or small, flood is a yearly agenda in Semarang.
After living in Singapore for 8 years, flood becomes something more distant. It is only when I was able to distance myself from the everyday reality of flood was I able to offer a different perspective on flood:
Flood, or an invasion of water into dry land, forces the urban space and urban dynamics to change in an instant.
[slumtraveller] has cleverly pointed out the disparity between media portrayal of the devastating effects of flood and the more colorful reality on the ground as he travelled around the flooded areas on his bicycle. Flood, among other natural and man-made disasters, give rise to a plethora of personas on the street. The tourists. The photographers and citizen journalist-wannabes. The euphoric children. The terrified citizens. The helpful souls. The entertainers. The opportunists. The runaway tycoon. And many more…
The last flood that I experienced was in Patna, in July 2012 when the annual monsoon hits India with its full force. My colleague and I left our apartment in the afternoon for a large-scale grocery shopping to the only shopping mall in Bihar. It was a blazing 38 degrees celcius when we left home, but by the time we got out of the mall, it was raining cats and dogs. The water level on the poorly drained roads was rising steadily. We managed to get into an auto rickshaw to the main road near my fellow intern's apartment near the central area because going all the way to my own apartment would be impossible. However, the auto rickshaw could not take us into the smaller alleys as the water there was knee-high. So, we got down with our big grocery bags. I wrapped my laptop in multiple plastic bags because I was supposed to have a business discussion with Rachael, my fellow intern afterwards. But we were caught in this mess instead. Geez.
Nonetheless, I took the time to enjoy the different atmosphere there. Roadside shops were closing their shutters, but the shop owners and residents in the neighborhood were out, sitting on parapets or standing on any elevated ground, ready to help those who may need assistance. Some of them were cheerfully making jokes about the situation, some simply enjoying the view of a few foreigners trying to wade through the brown water while lugging huge "Big Bazaar" bags. The road was suddenly a public space, a pedestrian's heaven (or not) as no motorized vehicle could pass by. Nobody had any reservation about walking in the middle of the road or simply hopping around from one concrete block to the next. We said hello to random strangers. We exchanged carefree laughter.
And of course, for the Singaporeans, it's photo time!
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So, to prevent me from rambling on and on, it is amazing to see how flood works its magic in transforming the urban space in the short span of a few hours. It is something no government planning can ever accomplish. In the end, we may ask ourselves: Is it bad? Is it good?
Well, from public health and economic point of view, flood is bad. Yet, there are many things that everyone could learn from every flood incident. The government could learn a thing or two about the nature of public interaction and public space. Urban planning literature from the west tells us that public spaces are designated spaces for civic and public use, such as parks or ancient public baths. But, what about another urban reality in the developing world, where public space may simply live a temporal existence? There have been many applications of the temporal concept of public space, one of which is the idea of car-free-days or weekends, where roads are temporarily transformed into avenues for leisure activities. There could be more ways to deal with the lack of physical land space to meet people's need for social activities in public spaces.
Maybe, just maybe, that careful observation of unpleasant events could teach us unexpected lessons. Sometimes we could find solution to problems in another problem...
Next:
The Flood Series Part 2 - Living with water (coming soon)
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