VISIONAIRES

Suryakencana Street

The sun was rising and as usual hampered by clouds as this is Bogor. I was standing on Suryakencana Street, extending alongside the entrance of Kebun Raya Bogor. When morning came, the rhythm of life had just begun. People started their daily activities along the street the informal sector started to beat.

That morning, the glory of street remained in memory. I have heard many stories about it.

Suryakencana Street used to be a fortress in the era Pakuan-Pajajaran Kingdom. Then, when Dutch colonized Indonesia, it was called Handels Straat and became center of business and economic activities, which was known as Chinatown in Bogor.

After Indonesian independence the street name changed to Suryakencana. It refers to the name of last king from Pakuan-Pajajaran kingdom which also know as Raga Mulya with last palace in Pulasari-Pandeglang.

Within decades ago, Jalan Suryakencana and its environs had became the busy area in Bogor. There were many shops, living place, food court and theatres. It had been the main road from Jakarta to Bandung before Jagorawi (Jakarta-Bogor-Ciawi) toll road was built.

In the past, Suryakencana was famous for its Chinese food, due to majority of the Chinese community in this area, the food sellers mostly sold Chinese food. As time goes by, they assimilated with local people. This assimilation brought to a new creation of food. The authentic taste mixed with local taste resulted in special food from Suryakencana such as porridge, lumpia, soto, etc.

It is hard to say, but it was only history. The glory has vanished and remained memory. The theaters had been closed, some were abandoned, and others were replaced. Some shops had been closed too, and owners moved to another place. The living place will be sold. This street is no longer the center of Bogor. The busy area had moved to other place.

Nowadays, Suryakencana Street is known for its street vendors of food. However the traffic jam, perforated road and garbage ruined the coziness. Garbage is scattered around, makes the street look like a slum area. The situation is so bad that once a citizen wrote a letter to local newspaper asking government to tidy up the area to prevent it from becoming more dirty and disorganized. That day, apart from that chaotic situation, what I could do is just recorded a piece of story through my lens. A story of people who put their hopes on Suryakencana Street.