Sumber: JakartaGlobe
Jakarta. Can social activism really change the face of Jakarta and test the capital’s readiness for a nonpartisan candidate in the 2012 gubernatorial elections?
According to one urban social movement, the only way to truly change the city is to change the way it is governed, which it hopes to achieve by merging the frustrations of residents with the power of online social networking.
Having launched its own Twitter account, @savejkt (short for “Save Jakarta”), in October, the group is encouraging Twitter users in the capital to send in their ideas to improve the city by mentioning their username or adding a “savejkt” hashtag to their tweets (#savejkt).
“It starts from people at the grassroots with a shared concern and one main goal — we want to improve and make Jakarta a better city,” Sulfikar Amir, a member of savejkt’s strategic team and a lecturer at Singapore’s Nanyang University, said during a public discussion on Thursday.
He said a dedicated team was ready to save all the ideas tweeted to them with the savejkt hashtag, as well as the ideas sent in directly to its Web site.
“Most people in Jakarta are middle class, most are educated and they know what they deserve from a city,” he said. “They have ideas, but they don’t know how to channel them. That’s why we created this movement.”
Thursday’s discussion, however, also revealed another of the group’s plans — to have a nonpartisan figure contest the 2012 gubernatorial elections.
“The social movement has to have a goal, and the only concrete way to change Jakarta is by changing how it is governed,” Sulfikar said.
Roby Muhamad, chief researcher at Akon Labs, a nonprofit research organization focused on the dynamics of human relations, told the discussion social activism had made a significant impact around the world.
He said Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in 2008 was one example of a successful campaign to utilize dedicated volunteers and social media.
“The beauty of the Internet is the instant feedback,” he said. “People like to get feedback and would be reluctant to join a cause if they felt they were not contributing in any way.”
Muhammad Ridho, who also attended Thursday’s discussion, said he believed all levels of society needed to be involved in order for the campaign to succeed.
“Look at the Reformasi of 1998,” he said, referring to the student-led protests that called for democratic reforms and forced Suharto to step down. “That succeeded because all levels contributed to the movement.”
Chahya Aziz said he attended the discussion because he wanted to know how he could help improve the city. “I would like to see someone with a vision to lead Jakarta,” he said. “[Governor] Fauzi Bowo has done nothing new.”
Sulfikar said the ideas collected by savejkt would be compiled and turned into a manifesto by February. “Afterwards, we’re going to pool the ideas on who, or what kind of figure, should lead Jakarta,” he said.
“Regarding the [2012] campaign, of course we’ll need capital. But right now, we’re concentrating on the most valuable capital — people and ideas.”
