Early morning fog shrouds Parliament House on 2 July 2019 in Canberra, Australia. The quiet, calm center of the Australian government was declared the nation’s capital in 1927, and the first parliamentary session was held there in 1929.
Canberra in Australia feels quiet at dusk, as if the city is completely deserted. It is the complete opposite of Jakarta. Walking from the Hotel Realm near the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to the Empire Circuit in Yarralumla, where many embassies are located, pedestrians will find wide and empty sidewalks. In Jakarta, the situation is very different, with dusk like midday and its sidewalks cramped with pedestrians, food vendors and ojek (motorcycle taxi) drivers.
Kompas visited Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne from late 2017 to mid-2018. The three cities each have their own unique atmosphere. Compared to Melbourne and Sydney, Canberra feels more formal.
Canberra is identical to the bureaucracy. Its downtown area is full of government offices and embassies. Many of its residents are civil servants.
Unsurprisingly, many still mistake Sydney as the Australian capital, instead of Canberra. This is understandable, as Sydney has many of the iconic symbols associated with Australia, like the Sydney Opera House. Sydney is also the country’s oldest settlement of Europeans, having been established in 1788.
Why was Sydney or Melbourne not named the Australian capital? The competition between the two cities’ residents is infamous. When Melbourne was considered as the country’s capital, Sydney residents rejected this, as they thought their city – the largest and most populous Australian city – was more deserving.
To alleviate the enmity between the two cities, a compromise was made. The Australian Federation declared a new capital located between Sydney and Melbourne in 1901. In 1927, Canberra was officially declared the Australian capital and parliament began holding its sessions in Canberra in 1929.
Security
Different from Australia, Myanmar’s military junta declared Naypyidaw to replace Yangon as the new capital for security reasons on 6 Nov. 2006. Naypyidaw, which means “royal capital”, is around 320 kilometers north of Yangon. It is closer to the country’s geographical center and thus more appropriate in terms of security and stability.
The new city is more strategically located than Yangon, in that it is closer to the three states of Shan, Kayah and Kayin. Yangon is also seen as more prone to natural disasters. In 2008, the city was hit by Typhoon Nargis, which killed 100,000 people. The military junta’s official reason was that Yangon was too crowded, thus making it difficult for the government to expand its offices.
Construction on Naypyidaw began in 2002 and continued for a decade. Several sources say that 25 developers were involved in its construction. Similar to Canberra, Naypyidaw is also quiet.
Security was also why the Pakistani government moved its capital from Karachi to Islamabad in the 1960s. Karachi was deemed too prone to attacks from the Arabian Sea. The economic hub was also prone to the business interests of government officials.
Islamabad, in contrast, is more strategically located. Apart from its proximity to the military headquarters in Rawalpindi, the city is also close to Kashmir, an area it has long fought over with India.
In terms of the national image, Islamabad is deemed more of a metropolis, with the second highest Human Development Index in Pakistan. Furthermore, Islamabad is home to around 20 universities and is deemed one of the safest places in Pakistan.
Just like Indonesia is doing now, several of its neighbors have moved their capitals – for a variety of reasons, but the primary goal is similar: to increase the effectiveness of governance and achieve national progress. (MYR/BEN/JOS)
