Date : May 28, 2016
Title : Improving Bandung one day at a time by Zakir Hussain
Time: 5 minutes
Thesis statement
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It is car-free mornings on a main street every Sunday, free travel for schoolchildren on public buses every Monday, and no-smoking day every Tuesday. On Wednesdays, residents are encouraged to speak Sundanese to preserve their identity, but Thursdays are for speaking English so they can better communicate with the outside world. Friday is the day for getting around on a bicycle, while on Saturday, a section of the city centre is closed off to traffic and opened to food vendors for a weekly culinary night. These are not just plans to fill up or rebrand the calendar, but part of Ridwan's bigger strategy to fix the city's notorious traffic and infrastructure woes, improve the lot of its people after a long period of mismanagement and make it more liveable.
"My dream is to make Bandung a little like Kyoto, modern without losing its sense of identity," he said. "A bit like Singapore, but still Sundanese," he added, referring to the language and culture for some 30 million Indonesians mostly in West Java. Ridwan, 42, and a trained architect, is part of a new breed of politicians who are transforming the country's cities with a mix of decisive leadership and persuasive prowess, including Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo and Surabaya Mayor Tri Rismaharini.
There have been detractors of his hands-on approach, including controversial lawyer Farhat Abbas, who wrote in a Twitter post: "I suggest the Mayor of Bandung just wear a Superman cape, wear his underpants ( on the ) outside, so people and the world know we have a strange mayor." Ridwan said he just wants what is best for Bandung residents. His record speaks for itself: "Wasted spaces" like land beneath flyovers have been turned into city parks, complete with benches and free wireless Internet access. Work to revitalise rivers - these provide an outlet for stress - is under way. The city has also started installing automated parking meters, a move Ridwan said has cancelled out leakage and ensured more revenue for the city. City officials have relocated street vendors away from busy roads, amid protests, and also offered the homeless and those caught begging - many of whom hail from outside the city - jobs as sweepers or newspaper deliverymen, with limited success. Many of the urban problems, Ridwan noted, are created by migrants, adding that wider national solutions need to be found. In the meantime, he has stepped up work on improving the city's infrastructure, with ground-breaking for two monorail lines scheduled for early next year. Bandung sees some six million visitors a year, the second highest figure after Bali, and 80 per cent of them are domestic tourists. This is expected to change as more flights link Singapore and Malaysia with the city, renowned for its cool climate, factory outlets and creative buzz. That is why, Ridwan said, it is important to beef up public transport - including an ongoing bicycle-rental scheme he started before becoming mayor. He, himself, cycles to work regularly. Extolling the benefits of cycling, he said: "It is therapeutic... But most importantly, ideas flow when I bike." Ideas he expects more Bandung residents to come up with to help fix their city
Opinion : This article is kind of persuasive article. Where the object persuade Bandung’s people to be better by following his law. I think it is pretty good for us to read.
