tire change

An Angkot driver changing tire on the street at Jalan Purnawarman, Bandung.

Photo taken with the toy camera on my cell phone.

what safety?

Football Fever

Football (American English: soccer) has always been a popular sport here. But in the past few weeks, following Indonesia's national team successes at AFF Suzuki Cup 2010, it's more than just popular; it's become a contagious fever.

street crash

Well, it sometimes happens.

teaching children to jaywalk

[Speaking in irony]: When jaywalking is part of the culture, it is the parents' responsibility to teach them how to do it properly.

hello...!

baby on a motorbike

It's not "Beware A Baby on Board" like the warning sticker you often see at the back of a car; it's a baby on a motorbike. And there's no warning about it.

perception of danger

Anything can happen on the street. Risk may only be a matter of perception.

school ride

Braving the chaotic traffic and hazardous pollution, a mother is taking her children to school on a motorbike. School bus is non-existent in this city, neither is a working mass transportation system.

"viking bonex"

Viking is the name of PERSIB (Bandung Soccer Association) supporters club. Bonex (also Bonek), which stands for bondo nekat (have nothing to lose), is the name of PERSEBAYA (Surabaya Soccer Association) supporters club.

The latter is notoriously known for being ruthless hooligans. I'm not sure if the former is any better. Its members are known to be destructive too in many occasions.

Those riding on the train roof are Vikings on their way to PERSIB's home game against PERSISAM (Samarinda Soccer Association) yesterday.

This post is linked to Monochrome Weekly. Please check other participants' photos there.

autotrian or sideautolot?

The English language may not have a single word to name this phenomenon. There is pedestrian which, as a noun, means a person going on foot; or, as an adjective, something related to walking. Then there is sidewalk, a paved walk for pedestrians at the side of a street. There is also the parking lot where motor vehicles are supposed to be parked. But in this chaotic city, these things are never differentiated, all at the the risk of the pedestrians' safety.

How do we name the blending of these things then?

What about: autotrian or sideautolot?

jalan purnawarman

I have previously raved about pedestrians having no rights in this city. And I didn't mean it as an overstatement.

In a lot of places in this city, there are either no sidewalks or the existing sidewalks have been invaded by street vendors and/or other usages.

Jalan Purnawarman (Purnawarman Street) - a busy commercial area featured in these pictures - is just another example. Bandung is generally not a walkable city, except for the brave citizens who have been so used to it and/or those adventurous souls who are willing to risk their lives on the streets.

Sadly, the city's government has never done anything consistent about this problem.

privileges

In a country with no effective law enforcement, everybody can have their own privileges. The president, the ministers, and the legislators are free to determine how much public money they will get (in terms of salaries and other facilities: luxury cars, houses, etc.) withouth much concern of the people's poverty. The judges, attorneys/public prosecutors, and the police are free to determine how much money they can extort from the legal cases they are handling. And once one is convicted of a crime and sent to jail (at a bargained sentence), he/she can buy his/her jail privileges if he/she can afford the prices set by the wardens.

Why should becak (pedicabs) not have their own privileges, then?

stop and text

Stopping to check your phone is good. Thinking that children don't need a helmet to ride a motorbike is careless.

Wait!

Have you stopped at the right place?

street division

How is the street divided?

How about one third for parking, one third for street vendors, and only the remaining one third for the traffic? Pedestrians can always conveniently go in between those three divisions anyway as the sidewalk is also reserved for street vendors.

getting on and off the train

Getting on and off the commuter train is a harzardous thing in this city. Passangers getting on board don't usually wait for those alighting it. Everybody rushes. In addition to this, the passangers' platforms at most of the stations are not at the level of the train's doorways but at the level of the rail. It's hazardous for the able-bodied people much less for children and the elderly. And it's certainly is almost impossible for the disable.

I took the above photo at Gado Bangkong commuter train station in the west of Bandung.

invisible #4

By law, they can't stop there! But street markings and signs are invisible in this city. Thanks to inconsistent law enforcement and the bribes you can pay the police officers if you should ever get caught.

danger in motion

First, the fruit vendors occupied one third the street. Then the angkot stopped almost in the middle of the street to wait for passangers. Then one of the vendors who wanted to go had to go to the middle of the street to avoid the angkot that stopped right in front of his cart. What happens next? What are the possibilities?

yippee! (viva PERSIB)

These PERSIB (Bandung football team) supporters from the satellite town of Padalarang in the west of Bandung used the KRD commuter train to go into the city and watch their favorite team play. Along the way they would do this and shout and tout "viva PERSIB!".

go against

A becak (pedicab) is going against the one-way traffic on Jalan Astana Anyar. This kind of behavior is not an isolated incidence but rather a pattern that can be found repeated throughout the city, particulary by becak, ojeg (motorcycle taxi), and motorcyclists.