Bathing by the Molenvliet

Today we took one hour to drive to Mangga Besar for lunch. This area in Chinatown or Kota, popular for its nightlife, is also where you could find some of the best Chinese food in Jakarta. The traffic was so bad along the way that I started studying the huge dirty drain between Jalan Gajah Mada and Jalan Hayam Wuruk closely. One could see lots of disgusting garbage floating in the dark-coloured slime that slowly oozes its way northwards towards the sea.

I shudder to think that this "drain", was once one of the key canals in Jakarta which stretches from Kali Besar near the port of Sunda Kelapa north of Jakarta to Harmonie. Bordered by present-day Jalan Gajah Mada on the west and Hayam Wuruk on the east, the entire stretch then was an upmarket Dutch residential area known as Molenvliet. The canal which diverts a portion of the Ciliwung river from its main course to the sea was initially built by the Chinese in Batavia for flood control and transportation purposes. This was during the days when Batavia was a bustling port and was known as the "Queen of the East".

Mention Molenvliet to any Jarkatan, you'll draw a blank look. But anyone would know Jalan Gajah Mada and Jalan Hayum Wuruk and they would vaguely refer to the "drain" there as the "Ciliwung river". It may sound unbelievable but this mucky canal was also one of the major public bathing places in Jakarta. Even up until the sixties, one can still find scantily-clad women in sarongs, cleaning and washing by the Molenvliet.

The "bathing beauties" are no more in sight along the Molenvliet. But late at night along Jalan Hayam Wuruk, one can see many "street beauties", bathed in neon-lights, soliciting for customers from passing cars. And the canal with its ooze and slime dribbles slowly to the sea, oblivious to its surroundings.