Cempaka Culture and Tourism: Heritage sites losing out to malls, seminar warns

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… The Shift in Human Nature

You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.

In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?

Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.

What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules. …”

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Heritage sites losing out to malls, seminar warns

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 12/17/2009 9:55 AM

The city administration is not contributing enough to much-needed efforts to preserve the city’s heritage sites, a seminar concluded Wednesday.

“The local administration often plays a large part in damaging monuments,” Indonesian Heritage Trust (BPPI) chairman Setyanto P. Santosa said on the sidelines of the seminar.

The seminar was held by the BPPI to record this year’s achievements and next year’s plans to preserve the country’s heritage sites, which range from natural to cultural ones.

Setyanto said preserving them was still low on the administration’s list of priorities.

“They often go after regional revenue, so they [give permits to build] more malls,” he said.

Heritage sites still lack sufficient legal protection, because the current heritage object law is deemed outdated and too narrow in terms of its definition, said BPPI executive director Catrini P. Kubontubuh.

“The 1992 law [on heritage objects] mainly considers monuments as heritage to be protected,” she said.

However, she pointed out there had been a shift in the understanding of what constituted “heritage”.

“Heritage is no longer confined to monuments or objects left behind by kings,” Catrini said.

She added a more holistic definition should include community sites, buildings and other sites that should be considered in city planning.

“The current law, for instance, failed to prevent houses in Menteng being torn down [and altered] that were supposed to be preserved,” she said.

Several homes in the leafy Central Jakarta neighborhood were built in the tropical deco style and are widely considered heritage objects.

Nevertheless, Catrini said the administration could have done more to prevent the alteration of those houses.

“While the new law is being deliberated, the protection [of heritage sites] can still be enforced through local ordinances,” she said.

The Culture and Tourism Ministry is in the middle of deliberating the bill for a new law, Catrini pointed out.

“Lots of places can be categorized as heritage sites, including the Old Town area and the Jalan Veteran area [in Central Jakarta],” she said.

The Old Town is home to historical buildings such as the Kota train station, the National Archives and the Tugu church, as well as several museums, including the Bank Indonesia Museum in which the seminar was held.

The Veteran area also holds a key place in the city’s history, renowned as an upscale residential area in colonial times.

The seminar also highlighted further legal weakness concerning heritage sites, particularly for buildings, in the 2002 law on buildings, which participants said did not have the requisite technical guidelines to preserve buildings.

Setyanto said the government should provide tax deductions for companies carrying out programs to save and preserve natural heritage.

“When companies contribute to help sports activities, they get a tax deduction,” he said.

“We hope the same treatment can be given to [companies that preserve] cultural heritage.

Companies are obliged to conduct corporate social responsibility, so that’s a good way to help.” (dis)