Remember Me?

Definitely put this one off far too long... Let's get right into it:

1) I've been focusing my time on reading as much as possible about all different aspects of Indonesia in relation to 'green building'. I’ll admit I have sometimes expanded to the larger subject of the environment as a whole and I've become most interested lately with waste and water management. To expand a little about these points, here is a good example:

Pulau Tidung - To the north of Jakarta there is a collection of small islands named the Thousand Islands, a popular weekend destination for most Jakartans, to escape the city and have an island getaway. That is exactly why we decided to go as well. We woke up early at 4am and got to the northern port of Jakarta. This place also functions as a fish market, so you could imagine the smell. It is an area in Jakarta that sees frequent flooding, so everything is in pretty bad shape. You kind of have to see it to understand it haha... and I know that doesn’t help you readers out too much. We got on the boat, and travelled to the island Pulau Tidung. It was a 2 hour trip by boat, and garbage surrounded the boat in the water for the first part of the trip. Later on it was much cleaner but when we arrived at the island we were all a little disappointed. The beach was completely covered with all sorts of scattered garbage, the water was hazy from the dumped sewage of the locals, and the trees on this small island were being chopped down. The fish I ate for breakfast, lunch and dinner came from the same sewage waters and the bridge from which kids jumped into the water was directly beside the toilet which empties into the water. We nicknamed the place “Garbage Island”.

Later we went on a snorkelling trip. Everybody was standing on the coral with their flippers, which severely damages the coral, which took many years to form. I got lost from my group at one point, and I was tired of swimming, so I hopped on a random boat. The man spoke English and told me how proud he is to be a resident of Pulau Tidung. His parents and their parents and his children and most likely their children are native Pulau Tidung-ites. His boat was leaking oil into the sea directly above the coral reefs. I pointed it out to him and he was embarrassed. Understandable, I trust he will fix it as soon as he finds the resources and money to do so. I asked him why the locals do not take better care of their island. He told me it’s mainly because they have grown up seeing the garbage and dumping the sewage and they know no different. Yet he did. I hope because of our conversation he will think more about the situation and do something to better his native island.

I do not get angry with or blame the island inhabitants for what they have done to the island. They are trying to make a living just as any other human being does, and they need to dump their sewage somewhere, and put their garbage somewhere. There is no infrastructure or awareness in place yet so they have no choice. I hope those readers from Canada and other more developed locations can take this story and appreciate the services available to them. There is no reason why somebody in Toronto should throw their garbage on the ground. No company should dump their by-products into the lake. We have a choice; we have solutions - so please be thankful of this and be responsible. If the locals of Pulau Tidung had a choice, I’m certain they would choose to protect their cherished home and keep it clean.


2) The pros and cons of being a bule (foreigner) in Indonesian – I keep telling people this would be an excellent topic to write a book on. As a bule I am instantly granted celebrity status and people act much differently with me than an average Indonesian local. In the beginning it was fun, but now I feel differently about it. I did not do anything spectacular to earn this celebrity status; I am an average person just like the next person in the store line up. I respect the hospitality of the local people, but many times I feel indebted to them. I am a person who has been raised to clean up after themselves, hold the doors for others and take care of themselves. Many times I have these things done for me, and like I said before, I appreciate it and understand the nice gesture, but I feel indebted to people. The paleness of my skin and the length of my nose (they like long noses here) have influenced my experience in Indonesia. It would be interesting to experience the country as a local, but that is obviously not possible.


3) My reports – As an intern with the WGBC I am required to write a report with a sustainable building theme. I am currently in the process of researching as much as possible about green building in Indonesia and trying to gain an understanding of the local building habitat. My report so far is going to contrast the GBCI Greenship NB (new building) rating system to the CaGBC LEED Canada NC 2009 rating system. I would like to provide an argument outlining the background attributes that have influenced the rating system Greenship. I’ve recently also become more interested in the housing here in Indonesia and how it can become more green. I’ve looked at vernacular architecture examples (traditional building) and how these practices can be incorporated into modern housing design. This new interest is leading me astray from the comparison to LEED Canada NC 2009 and instead I’m starting to become interested in how Indonesia could build green neighbourhoods with less of a modern western influence (mechanical ventilation, artificial lighting) and instead use local best practices in coordination with the Greenship Rating system. We’ll see where this all ends up going. It’s a constantly evolving project.


4) Humber College Co-op – I applied for this internship initially to satisfy my co-op requirements for my program at Humber – Sustainable Energy and Building Technology. I would like to hereby thank my program coordinator Kerry Johnston for posting this opportunity and providing me with my reference letter, all my professors and classmates who have educated me, everyone at the co-op department especially Lynda Jackson for helping me get here, York (Larissa, Natasha) and WGBC (Nicole) for providing the opportunity to come here.


5) Travel time – I have only a short 4 weeks left with GBCI and I plan to make the best of it. Unfortunately I missed a week because I got very sick – self diagnosed as Ecoli - (most likely because of the food I consumed on “garbage island”) so I’ve been playing catch up. Once it all ends though I have dedicated a month here in Indonesia to travel. I will be going east from Jakarta, across Java Island, visiting Yogyakarta area, Bromo volcano, Bali, Gili Islands, Lombok and hopefully Komodo Island. The traveller’s website I mentioned in my first blogs has helped me find many new friends here in Jakarta and I’ve enjoyed every experience with them. I hope to meet many of you Couchsurfers during my travels to enrich my experience in Indonesia.

That should be enough for now... Talk to you soon =)

p.s. Martabak is deliciousssss!