History museum offers glimpse of the past

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Jakarta History Museum in West Jakarta was crowded on Wednesday afternoon with hundreds of children and adults, mostly students, enjoying relics of the past.

More than 300 children and about 120 adults registered within three hours after the museum opened at 9 a.m.

Arif, a second-year junior high school student, said he and his two classmates had come all the way from Cakung, East Jakarta, as part of their school homework.

"We come to this place to do an assignment about city history," he said.

"But we also want to enjoy ourselves here during the holiday. It's good to refresh our minds," he added.

Faisal, another student, said that he liked the museum because he could learn about history.

"This is my third visit here," he said.

The Cakung teenager said he would come to the museum more often if he lived closer.

Ican, a museum ticket-seller, said he was not expecting so many people to come Wednesday.

"I thought people would visit the museum on the weekend," he said.

On average, the museum records around 200 visitors daily.

Ican said most of the visitors were school students learning about the capital's history.

"Besides, they are now enjoying a long holiday," he said.

To deal with the large number of visitors, the museum management has deployed all of its six guides to explain about the relics on display. These include old maps and Betawi traditional art and cultural objects, such as a musical instrument called a tanjidor.

Daniel, one of the guides, said he usually assists foreign tourists.

"We are overwhelmed with the number of students coming today so I am helping the other five guides," he said.

He said many school students were interested in a cell in the museum, which had served as a women's prison. Unfortunately, the cell is not open to the public because it is under renovation.

The Jakarta History Museum was established in 1974. The building initially served as Jakarta's City Hall, beginning in 1627 during the Colonial Period.

The museum opens Tuesday to Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and is closed on national holidays.

The entrance fee is Rp 2,000 (US 22 cents) for adults and Rp 600 for students.

Located at Fatahillah Square in Old Town, it displays archeological treasures such as old coins from the Colonial Period, paintings by famous Indonesian artist Raden Saleh, and unique ceramics from the 17th and 18th century.

There are two other museums in the area: the Puppet Museum and the Ceramics Museum.(ewd)