Announcement: Closure Of 'Plis Deh Jakarta!' Blog

Following up the string of tweets I made today about the closure of the 'Plis Deh Jakarta!' blog, I just wanted to write that officially on my blog. The Twitter account will remain active, but the blog will not be updated again, and might eventually be shut down or moved to a free-hosted blog site.

I and Miund made the blog initially to just talk about Jakarta in a funny way, back in 2008, but I had a personal mission to keep bringing the absurd problems of Jakarta to the surface with a comedic/sarcastic angle, to attempt to bring the issues into mainstream discussions. Friends and enemies were gained along the way, but it was never about talking about the negative side of Jakarta. In my honest opinion, back in 2008 people were not really talking publicly about Jakarta's problems as they are now, and not actively discussing solutions as they are now. Complaints were commonplace but the mood was like, 'it's Jakarta, what you gonna do?'.

I will never know if Plis Deh Jakarta! contributed to the recent rise in social activism in social media; questioning, criticizing, discussing and finding solutions for Jakarta, but right now, the mission that Plis Deh Jakarta! begun with has become less relevant, as the discussions do take place. We are not so apathetic anymore, and change, even the small ones, start with identifying problems and discussing them. Solutions are never easy as the problems are often not that simple, but I am glad to say that in Plis Deh Jakarta!'s 3-year history, the mood has changed from "what you gonna do" apathy to "let's frikkin do something about this" energy.

That is what I set out to do and I believe there are more writers, influencers and leaders who are better, more focused and can translate discussions into real actions, making Plis Deh Jakarta!'s mission complete and somewhat irrelevant with the times. It was fun doing it!

Thanks to all who have supported Plis Deh Jakarta!, and those who have been against it also.