Every weekend, tourists are arriving to northern Bandung for their weekend vacation. But whenever they go past the Dago region, they perhaps don’t realize the big twin building that greets them is currently threatening the local people living below it.
On Friday, August 5th 2022, a day before the weekly traffic chaos, Dago Elos (the disputed site) held a rally and concert event titled “Dago Elos Sabubukna” (tr: Dago Elos until we die). The event saw approximately 1000 people, mainly teenagers from the local underground music scenes, poured into the small basketball field in the middle of Dago Elos neighborhood. The event also presented WRECK, a post-hardcore band, and Rub of Rub, a reggae dub band, both from Bandung. During the event, several pop-up shops, libraries, and a screen-printing workshop were opening their stalls for donation.
This report will let you see the event and the Dago Elos struggle from the outsider perspective up close — from the sideline of the field.
The neighborhood hidden in plain sight
We arrived in the late afternoon. After the hustle-bustle of inner-city Bandung traffic, we went up to the Dago region, where the road widens and the traffic eases.
The ojek drivers in Dago Bus Terminal stopped and directed us to another part of the terminal, where we saw banners and graffiti, a sign that showed us where the civil movement took place. After parking our motorcycle, we went through the alleyway to an open field, surrounded by the homes of locals. The event was yet to start.
The site reminded us of the South American barrios, a populous neighborhood near the inner city, in the mountains. The neighborhood is pretty crowded, framed by the blue sky, and the furbished twin building called The Maj Apartment. The towering building is, in fact, the source of all the problems that narrated the Dago Melawan movement.
History of Dago Elos dispute
Back in the Dutch colonial times, the current region of Dago Elos, Cihuripan, and the Dago bus terminal was owned by a Dutch cement tiles manufacturing company named NV Cement Tegel & Materialen Handel “Simongan”. After that, according to a disputed colonial document, it was acquired by a German named George Hendrik Muller. After the Indonesian independence in 1945, however, a law stated that every asset owned through the old Dutch legal document should be converted into the recent document by the Indonesian new law. If the asset was not converted until 1980, the asset will then be owned by the Indonesian government.
The people of Dago Elos, having been living peacefully on the Simongan land, were suddenly disturbed by a court official in 2016. The land they lived on all this time, was claimed by the descendants of Muller family, Heri Hermawan Muller, Dodi Rustendi Muller, and Pipin Sandepi Muller. The people had to go, the court official said. The consequence was heavy; a lawsuit and 238 million rupiah court costs should be paid by the Dago Elos people.
The anger did not stop there. While the land was still disputed, including the government-owned bus terminal, the Muller family went together with PT Dago Inti Graha to build The Maj luxury apartment, right above the disputed soil. Even after the court concluded the people won the right of the land by 2019, the developer company and Muller family continued the battle and won the judicial review in 2022.
The Maj apartment construction is not without problems. Constructing a high-rise on the fragile northern Bandung soil created a big issue with a dire consequence, as WALHI stated. The Dago region is supposed to be a rain catchment area. If the land is to be revitalized, it should be either a city forest or a park, not a luxurious high-rise for the riches.
The sudden claim, the lawsuit, and the construction made Dago Elos people question: on which side the government sits in this issue?
A mosque across the road
The dusk fell. The people eased down as the sky darkened. Some were setting the lighting for the field. The stage was set for the bands to play.
I went to find a mosque to pray. I had to go through a dark maze-like alleyway, which after a few steps opens up into a field of trash, canopied by The Maj building. It seems out-of-place for a trash field to be located by the neighborhood, but that’s where they want to build.
Across the road is a simple modern-style mosque. Right by the gate was the attendant in a white shirt and a white cap. He was reciting (or perhaps chanting) Quran verses from memory. Then I walked into the main room. There was an old man, praying, waiting for Isha (night prayer, usually an hour after dusk — the astronomical dusk).
Land dispute in Bandung
Dago Elos is one among many sites of land disputes in the Bandung region. Kebon Jeruk, a neighborhood by the Bandung Train Station, was once the site of the open conflict against PT KAI (the Indonesian railway company) in 2016. Approximately 25 households were suddenly displaced when the KAI officials came and destroyed their houses. The people then joined forces with the help of LBH Bandung (Lembaga Bantuan Hukum, Legal Aid Institute) to bring the matter to court. In mid-2017, the court concluded that PT KAI couldn’t prove that the Kebon Jeruk land belongs to them, and instead showed the court proof of ownership of Kebon Kawung, the land on the other side of the railway. The people won, but not for long. In late 2017, the court approved the PT KAI appeal.
Tamansari, located right by the iconic Pasupati bridge (the cover image of everything about Bandung), was also a site of the brutal land-grabbing by the government. Back in 2017, the government claimed ownership of the uncertified land, despite the people having been living on it for several generations before. Now, the site is used for a vertical apartment. The building is styled on Brutalist architecture, a post-war architecture style that continuously reminded us about the people’s war against their own government (or rather, the government’s war against their own people.)
There are lots of other neighborhoods threatened to be put down. The city is currently on the mission to ‘beautify’ Bandung. It’s a shame to know that this beauty is sitting on the repression and intimidation to their own people.
The songs of freedom; the bars of rage
I rushed back to the field to find a sea of people pouring into the small field. It’s already crowded and hot. I went to the very front of the crowd, where the people gave way to the elderly and the kids who attended the event. It’s a ceremony for everyone, eventually.
First agenda: speeches. An opening by the host, then a speech by an elderly woman, the local elder in a white head cap. She gave a fiery speech, before then reciting a poem of her own.
“…Let me sleep soundly,
Let me sleep for a while.”
Then a man in a black hat from the Dago Elos Alliance gave thanks to the crowd, reminding us of what the struggle is about.
Then it’s time for the open mic. Everyone was welcome to say something on the microphone. Reciting poetry, a man in the white bucket hat screamed of fire and blood, and the crowd crazed and clapped. He recited his poetry with a sense of boiling anger, accentuated syllables, but a reserved gesture. Like a boiling pot of water. Then a guy in a flannel shirt came up and shouted to the crowd “Dago Melawan! (Dago fight back!)” then the crowd answered “Tak Bisa Dikalahkan! (never defeated)”.
It was a cold night, but the rally heated up the neighborhood. One can clearly see against the dark night sky, a thin mist emerges from the sweaty crowd, mixed with cigarette smoke and vape clouds. One can also see young men clutching in their hands a plastic bag with a plastic straw sticking out of them.
The stage is set. The first band on the schedule is WRECK, a post-hardcore band. Overdriven guitar, the banging of the drums, the breaks, it was almost what the people expected in a hardcore scene. The crowd in the front made a moshpit. It was chaotic but pretty much safe and civil. Several times the moshpit paused because someone dropped things; glasses, wallet, cap, etc. But then on, it’s getting crazier. A guy in Dr. Marten’s boots came and swung his feet to people’s heads. Some fights broke out near the shop. But then they stop and went to the sideline, where they meet me. The band concluded their set with Fugazi’s hit “Waiting Room”.
The already exhausted crowd didn’t sit down after WRECK. There was not much energy after the moshpit as I saw people leaving the crowd in sweat. But the main stage is yet to calm down.
As the next band preparing, I joined the crowd and walk into the stage side. It was difficult, as I still bring my backpack with me. Then, I saw the roadman by the stage. He’s already red-eyed.
Rub of Rub, the reggae band from Bandung, entertained the crowd with slow and low dub music. The intricate effects and mind-boggling sound sort of energized the crowd. Some were quite excited, like me. Some others were excited too, maybe from the plastic bag drink they drunk previously. However, some others were too excited, that the band stopped playing to remind them about the safe crowd attitude. Much to the shouting of the crowd against themselves.
After several songs, the time came for them to play their hit. Their song ‘Lepas’ was the main set that night. The crowd sang the song about freedom, flying for freedom, to the sky. The song theme is psychedelic, the after-effect of consuming some substance is the feeling of freedom. Like a bird, free from its cage. Somehow, the song reminded me of Maya Angelou’s ‘I know why the caged bird sings. The caged bird can fly for freedom, but the caged birds can only sing, and make a rally.
Wrap up
We left the scene after a while. It was a cold night, but the rally warms our hearts. There were still people coming to Dago Elos after we left. We certainly hope the kids also leave Dago with the warmth, or even better, the boiling rage.
As long as the music still plays, the mosque attendant still chants, the old man still prays, the kids still read, and the poets still write, the people shall overcome, and Dago will still fight back.
Dago melawan! Tak bisa dikalahkan![]
