Quiet, but Still Meaningful
One of the rooms at the Vice Presidential Palace, Jakarta, on Friday, Aug. 4.
Introduction: In this installment, Kompas presents the third and last article of its "Palaces" coverage, with the first edition presented on July 3-7 and the second on Aug. 7. In this final installment, the report covers the State Palace, Merdeka Palace and the Vice Presidential Palace in Jakarta.
The Vice Presidential Palace on Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan No. 6, Jakarta, used to be bustling with activity when Jusuf Kalla accompanied president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as his vice president during the 2004-2009presidential term. However, since becoming the vice president to President Joko Widodo inOctober 2014 and with an office on Jl. Veteran III, the Vice Presidential Palace has returned to quietude. It may be quiet, but it is still meaningful.
According to the State Secretariat’s presidential palace management, the building atJl. Medan Merdeka Selatan No. 6 is actually not a palace, but the office of the Vice President. Its management falls under the Secretariat of the Vice President. It is different from Yogyakarta’s Gedung Agung Palace, Bogor Palace, Cipanas Palace, Bali’s Tampaksiring Palace and Jakarta’s State Palace and Merdeka Palace, which are managed by the President’s secretariat, the State Secretariat.
Since Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX resided and kept an office at the building from his appointment as Minister of the Economy, Finance and Development in March 1966 until his election as the second Indonesian Vice president in March 1973 accompanying president Soeharto, the building was frequently called the Vice Presidential Palace. After the Sultan, the building was also used by Adam Malik, Umar Wirahadikusumah, Sudharmono, Try Sutrisno, BJ Habibie, Megawati Soekarnoputri, Kalla for two terms, and Boediono.
According to Selayang Pandang Sekretariat Wapres (A Djajadiningrat, Jakarta, 1998/Secretariat of the Vice President at a Glance), before its use by the Sultan and other vice presidents, the building was the residence of the Governor of Batavia and Ommelanden (outlying areas). Meanwhile, the official residence of the vice president, aside from the Sultan and Adam Malik, was located on Jl. Borobudur and Jl. Diponegoro.
Since 1870, Medan Merdeka Selatan (Koningsplein) was known as an elite neighborhood. At that time, Jl. Kebon Sirih, which ran parallel to Medan Merdeka Selatan, constituted the southernmost border of Batavia, and the Dutch Indies moved the center of government from Old Batavia (Kota Jakarta) to Weltevreden (Central Jakarta),which is the National Monument today.
The Weltevreden area was then turned into Buffelsveld (buffalo field) and Waterloopen (watercourses). Aside from a place where people gathered, the fieldwas used to hold parades, military ceremonies and exercises, horse riding, and sports. The area was later developed into Koningspleinnabij Batavia (the king’s square near Batavia).
During the Japanese military occupation, the name of the area was changed into the Djakarta Athletic Association Field (Ikada). Bung Karno and Mohammad Hatta were once about to proclaim Indonesia\'s independence at Ikada field, but this was cancelled and moved to Jl. Pegangsaan Timur 56. In September 1945, Soekarno held an extraordinarily large meeting at the field. After this meeting, the name of the area was finally given its name of Medan Merdeka. The surrounding streets were also given this name with the cardinal additions of Utara (North), Selatan (South), Barat (West), and Timur (East), according to Medan Merdeka: The Heart of the Capital City of the Republic of Indonesia (A Heuken SJ, Cipta Loka Caraka Foundation, 2008).
When the government was moved to Weltevreden, many new houses were built in the Koningsplein area. The houses were later turned into government offices and official residences of the Batavia City Administration. The architecture of the houses was influenced by the classicism of the Indische Woonhuis, or New Indies Style.
According to Vice Presidential Deputy for Administration Iman Nefianto, houses oft his architectural type can still be seen along Medan Merdeka Selatan today, from the railway track to the State-Owned Enterprises Ministry on a corner of Jl. Husni Thamrin. New Indies Style structures that still exist include the Vice Presidential Palace, consisting of two adjacent buildings, the office of the Jakarta governor, the National Endurance Institute, and the National Library.
Another one, a structurally common building that was called the Highest Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia (PTRI) and was once used by Prime Minister Sutan Sjahrir to negotiate the Linggarjati Agreement, is part of the US Embassy compound to the east of the Vice Presidential Palace. As reported by Kompas on June 21, 2012, the ex-PTRI building will be demolished and a replica will be rebuilt to the west of the US Embassy.
Disappearance of "Big Houses"
Indonesia\'s first vice president, Hatta, had an office at the Vice Presidential Palace on Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan, located in building No. 13. The building, which was once the residence of a Dutch general, Simon Hendrik Spoor, was also Hatta’s official residence.
When the government was temporarily moved to Yogyakarta, Hatta occupied the building in front of Gedung Agung, which was the President’s office and residence. After returning to Jakarta on December 28, 1949, vice president Hatta occupied the building on Koningsplein Zuid Straat 13, which used to be called Gambir Selatan Palace. Meanwhile, President Soekarno’s office and official residence was Merdeka Palace, which used to be called Gambir Palace.
Unfortunately, Hatta’s office and official residence, which had a spacious yard, disappeared without a trace after Hatta tendered his resignation in 1956 and returned to his private residence on Jl. Diponegoro. On the plot of Hatta’s former vice presidential office now stands a high-rise building that houses the State-Owned Enterprises Ministry. Searching for documents on how the historical vice presidential office of Hatta became the State Enterprises Ministry is difficult. Kompas’s research and development department, which was able to track the documents to the State Archives and the Inter-Jakarta Regional Library, could not find them. No documents about the actual palace exist since Hatta and his family left the building.
Until July 1965, Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan No. 13 was registered as the secretariat of the National Front, a mass organization set up by President Soekarnoto take over Malaysia. After the National Front was disbanded in 1966, the building came under the ownership of PT Danareksa, which built the stock exchange and the Danareksa buildings. Garuda Indonesia was registered as renting the Danareksa Building in 1987. In August 1990, excepting the Danareksa office, Garuda bought the stock exchange building for its Jakarta headquarters. Due to Garuda’s financial crisis, the State-Owned Enterprises Ministry took over the building in 2006 and has used it as its office ever since.
Meutia Farida Hatta, Hatta’s eldest daughter, when asked about the documents and photos of the historical building was once her family’s residence, confirmed that they were lost. Meutia and two of her younger sisters, Gemala Rabi’ah Hatta and Halida Nuriah Hatta, who were born in the residence, believed that the building was demolished after the leadership of Ali Sadikin, Jakarta governor from1966-1977. “Possibly it happened in the era of Jakarta Governor Tjokropranolo,” they wrote in Bung Hatta in the Eyes of His Three Daughters (PBK, 2015).
The daughters of one of the Proclaimers of the Republic of Indonesia said Hatta’s office and official residence of was called the “Big House” of Indonesia.This was not only because of the number of occupants, but also because of the diversity of the occupants’ backgrounds. For example, their Minangkabau parents were of mixed Acehnese and Javanese heritage. "Today, not a stone remains of the antique palace with very beautiful Dutch marbles, which was believed to have been built between the 1700s and 1800s,”Meutia, who lived at the palace at the age of nine, says in the book. Hatta, who was vice president from 1945, finally resigned after he was disappointed by Soekarno.
When asked about the Vice Presidential Palace falling into silence, Vice President Kalla admitted to this. "It is reasonable that it is quiet, because activities have been rarely held there. Since the beginning, Pak Jokowi wanted us to take over the office that housed the former Supreme Advisory Council. Besides being closer, it is also easier to meet or attend meetings at the Palace or the office of the President," Kalla said.
However, Kalla said, the Vice Presidential Palace continues to have meaning for his administration, including for President Jokowi.
