Other / jakarta

The photo above shows the atmosphere in a commercial area which is strongly suspected to be in Jakarta, in 1947. The original description of the photo stated that the location was in Bandung, but from the car's plate that was seen we know that plate B was the area code for Jakarta. Even now, Indonesia still uses the area code from the Dutch colonial era. In the photo above, we can see several Dutch soldiers walking among the visitors. This is understandable considering that in 1946-1949 the city of Jakarta was under Dutch rule, even the Indonesian government fled to Yogyakarta. We can also see that there are many buildings with Chinese architecture which indicates that the acculturation of culture between Indonesians and Chinese has been happening for quite a long time. There are also many cars that seem to be imported from America milling about on the streets. The American automotive industry was very dominant at that time because the industry in Europe was devastated by the war. In 1949 the Dutch finally decided to leave Indonesia after negotiations for compensation and discussions on the debt of the Dutch East Indies were completed. The Indonesian government returned to Jakarta, and the sight of Dutch soldiers roaming around Jakarta was no longer to be found.