FACTORS AND IMPLICATIONS OF REMOVING OF COLONIAL BUILDINGS IN SINGARAJA CITY

E-Journal of Cultural Studies

DOAJ Indexed (Since 14 Sep 2015)

ISSN 2338-2449

May 2020 Vol. 13, Number 2, Page 45-56

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FACTORS AND IMPLICATIONS OF REMOVING OF COLONIAL BUILDINGS IN SINGARAJA CITY

• ¹I Wayan Sumerata, ²A.A. Ngr Anom Kumbara, ³I Ketut Setiawan

• ¹Bali Archaeological Centre, ^2,3Cultural Studies Study Program, Faculty of Arts, Udayana University

Email: ¹k[email protected], ²[email protected], ³[email protected]

Received Date Accepted Date Published Date

24-02-2020

25-04-2020

31-05-2020

ABSTRACT

The swift flow of development and the demands of globalization seemed to be the destroyer of colonial buildings in Singaraja City, so that its existence was increasingly marginalized. This phenomenon is a serious problem because it can have implications for the existence of colonial buildings which are a reflection of historical events. The purpose of this study was to determine the forms and backgrounds of marginalization, as well as the implications of the alienation of colonial buildings in Singaraja City. The method of data collection is done by observation, interviews, and literature study. The theories used in this research are the theory of power relations, hegemony theory, and deconstruction theory. The results showed that the form of marginalization of colonial buildings, namely unfair treatment by the government and the community in the form of monasticism of the condition of buildings that were damaged, both minor, moderate or severe damage, even many of which were demolished were replaced by new buildings with other uses. Although, there are things that are tried to be repaired, but they are patchy so that it looks shabby and removes its authenticity. Factors leading to marginalization include the development of urban communities, the indifference of local governments, and the insistence of global capitalist interests. This condition is related to the practice of power and hegemony which is very strong in the people's mindset, that it seems as if there are no victims. This then has implications, namely the loss of historical evidence, urban identity, and the diminishing love of the younger generation for the importance of cultural heritage.

Keywords: colonial buildings, marginalized, power, hegemony, capitalists, city identity

INTRODUCTION

History is a past event that is often viewed by certain parties as an outdated event that must be abandoned because it does not provide any benefit to contemporary life. This is apparent, for example, in the way they look at the past with a cynical look and want to forget

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it. In the name of development and progress, many of the colonial buildings which are loaded with historical values, education and architectural techniques that function to add cultural diversity are abandoned or even destroyed for development purposes.

The colonization carried out by foreign nations against Indonesia did indeed provide a dark history, but the historical position should be beautiful if it is placed in the right and right position. Often ancient buildings have become silent witnesses of various events in the past, as well as presenting noble values for a nation, such as the value of urban spatial planning, beauty, construction, and architectural technology.

In this regard, Singaraja City is one of the regency cities in Bali which has many colonial style buildings, because the colonial government ruled in Singaraja for a long time and became the center of colonial government for the Bali-Nusa Tenggara region. However, since the independence and construction era, many colonial buildings have been damaged, left damaged and even dismantled for other functions. The existence of such problems, the purpose of this study was to determine the forms and backgrounds of marginalization, and to analyze the implications of the marginalization of colonial buildings in Singaraja City. The results of the research are expected to provide benefits for people's understanding of the importance of preserving various forms of past cultural heritage, especially colonial buildings which contain a lot of educational, historical, and important values for the identity of a city.

RESEARCH METHOD

Data collection techniques used in this study include observation, interviews, and analysis of colonial relic’s documents that are relevant to the research problem. Observation is a direct observation of the condition of colonial buildings in the City of Singaraja, especially observations of buildings that are still available. , and that has been torn down for other purposes. Interviews were conducted with various resource persons, namely the community, government officials and related stakeholders.

The collected data is then analyzed qualitatively with a cultural studies approach, through three stages, namely data reduction, data presentation, and drawing conclusions and verification to ensure the validity of the reliability and transferability of the object under study (Miles and Huberman in Agusta, 1998: 29). The first is that data reduction techniques are a process of selecting, concentrating, paying attention to simplification, abstracting and transforming raw data that arise from written records in the field. Data in the form of

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observations on colonial buildings and interviews with informants were collected and grouped, then analyzed according to the topic of discussion. The discussion is arranged in a narrative form by paying attention to the realities that occur in the field and then formulating an effective strategy to gather information related to marginalization. After everything has been collected and recorded, a conclusion is drawn.

Theoretical basis

The theoretical basis of this research uses several theories, namely the theory of power relations, the theory of hegemony, and the theory of deconstruction. The theory of power relations is used to discuss the power relations involved in the process of marginalizing colonial buildings in Singaraja City. The concept of power according to Michael Foucault, a pioneer philosopher of structuralism, power is one dimension of relations. Where there is a relationship, there is power (Sutrisno and Putanto, 2005: 146). There are several elements involved in this process, such as local government and owners / residents. In this case there was a process of power struggle between the elements claiming the most rights to control the colonial building. Each party has dominated the colonial buildings which lead to marginalization.

According to Foucault, power is not owned and practiced in a scope where there are many positions that are strategically related to one another. Foucault examines more power in individuals as subjects in the smallest scope (Sutrisno and Putanto, 2005: 150). Because power spreads without being localized and permeated throughout the whole social fabric. Next is Gramsci's hegemony theory which links the concept of ideology and cultural life, especially in directing the social formation of individuals and the structure of society. Here the hegemony is essentially a strategy in order to perpetuate world views and the power of certain social groups that are built on the basis of class, ethnicity, nationality, and other categories. However, according to the characteristics of Gramsci's view, this situation must be seen as unstable. This means that the ability of hegemony supported by ideology tries to be realized and maintained by temporary social groups (Barker, 2014: 119-121). Meanwhile, deconstruction theory means separating, releasing, in order to find and expose the assumptions of a text. In particular, deconstruction involves dismantling hierarchical binary oppositions such as speech / writing, reality / appearance, nature / culture, sanity / madness,

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etc., which function to guarantee the truth by overriding and devaluing the “inferior” part of the binary opposition (Barker, 2009: 81).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Colonial Buildings in the City of Singaraja

One of the cities in Indonesia that inherited quite a lot of Dutch colonial buildings is Singaraja City, Bali Province. The Dutch colonial buildings in Singaraja City are centrally built in the middle of the city. This is because the center of government was in this city before being moved to Denpasar. Generally, this legacy was not too big and mostly functioned as a residence, official residence, and several other supporting facilities. Below is a table of colonial buildings in Singaraja City.

The Marginality Factors of Colonial Buildings in Singaraja City

There were several factors that influenced the marginalization of colonial buildings in Singaraja City, including the development of urban society; Regional government; and the insistence of a global capitalist culture. These three factors were interrelated and had a significant effect on the marginalization of colonial buildings. The development of urban communities and population growth followed by development greatly affect the existence of urban space. The small area of the city is not comparable with the development of society that requires a very large space, both for residence and place of business. Spatial requirements will get permission from the Regional Government as the holder of control in the field, which sometimes has cooperation that is mutually beneficial economically, but can be culturally detrimental. This situation will be put to good use by investors who act as financiers to get profits without considering the importance of historical buildings. The following is the role of each of these factors.

The development of urban society which was increasingly out of control due to capitalist interests oriented to money and profit had a major influence on the existence of colonial buildings in Singaraja City. As an example of the replacement of the former port warehouse building built by the Dutch colonial government, this has been torn down and replaced with a multipurpose building which is considered more relevant and generates regional income. The demolition of this building was solely for zoning, and now a new building with adequate

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facilities has been built at that location which is prepared for the agenda of the International Mask Festival.

Figure 1. Eks Building of Buleleng Harbour Office (left) and New Building of Ketut Pudja (right) Source: From Doc. Beritabali.com (left). Personal Document (right)

The case above shows the existence of a capitalist ideology which is a strong basis in demolition of colonial buildings. Ideology is a belief system and value system and its representation in various media and social actions (Piliang, 2010: xv), while Gramsci views ideology as understood as ideas, meanings and practices that claim to be universal truths, as maps of meaning that support the power of certain social groups ( Barker, 2009: 63). Even though the Regional Government has strong reasons for the process of replacing this building, from the point of view of cultural studies, this action is still a process of marginalization based on capitalist ideology. Indirectly, the impact of capitalist hegemony has a very big influence on the existence of colonial buildings in Singaraja City, and if this is not resolved by the relevant agencies, it is believed that the existence of colonial buildings will slowly but surely continue to decrease and will eventually run out.

In addition, the role of local government which is very influential and strategic in the field of conservation, as well as the sustainability of colonial buildings. One such role is to implement Law No. 11 of 2010 concerning cultural heritage. The logical consequence of this is the claim of responsibility on the state to protect and ensure the preservation of cultural heritage buildings through the designated systems and agencies. This law also shows the seriousness of the central government in preserving cultural heritage.

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Based on empirical data in the field, several colonial buildings have been demolished and replaced with new ones, such as what happened to the former harbor warehouse, the former cinema building, the Sunda Ketjil governor's building, and the Rat van Kerta building. Replacing ancient buildings into modern ones requires a lot of money. Logically, the government actually has a budget, it's just that the allocation depends on the significance of a building in increasing local revenue. This fact illustrates that the government seems to have deliberately not made repairs, but tends to ignore damaged colonial buildings, both lightly damaged and severely damaged. This omission has an impact on the level of damage to buildings which is getting worse from day to day, especially to buildings of public facilities owned by the government. If it is badly damaged, it will be easier to demolish and transfer functions according to the government's goals and interests. In this case the revitalization discourse is to preserve colonial buildings by making changes and if they are damaged they will be demolished. Thus there will be no rejection from various circles about the treatment of colonial buildings. According to the Law of the Republic of Indonesia number 11 of 2010 article 80 paragraph 1 and 2 regarding revitalization.

Apart from the development of society and local government, the insistence of global capitalist interests was a very important factor in the marginalization of colonial buildings in Singaraja City. The occurrence of significant changes in various fields of life which is very difficult to avoid is the result of the influence of global culture. This is a phenomenon in society, which can have positive and negative impacts. On the one hand, it can lead to progress in human life, while on the other hand, it can cause negative impacts in other fields. Global culture is always accompanied by modernity based on industry and managed by capitalist principles, namely a mode of production based on private property ownership and the pursuit of profit. According to Antony Giddens, these modernity institutions consist of capitalism, industrialism, military power and control ((Barker, 2014: 178). When the philosophy of positivism ruled the world, technological developments were accelerating. Advances in information, telecommunications and transportation seemed to open up. The veil of human and world boundaries is getting smaller. The revolution in information, communication and transportation technology has given birth to what is now called globalization. It is no longer clear the boundaries of space and time between nations (Supriadi, 2012: 1). The world has become a big village “Global Village "where events or events in one place can be seen and

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heard in other places at the same time. The globalization process that occurs then is accompanied by contradictory effects (Tanudirjo, 2003).

Capitalism is a social system that is dominated by economic relations, especially market relations. The institutions of private ownership are detailed and well protected, and property owners derive income from the sale of output made with labor hired for wages or salaries. Although markets exist in various social systems that have emerged for a long time, capitalism is something unique with the degree to which market relations affect all aspects of the social order of society (Brun, 2008: 437). Production is primarily oriented towards capital accumulation, i.e. economic production is primarily oriented towards profit (profit) rather than meeting human needs (Pablo and O'Neil, 2019).

Global capitalism has brought changes to the culture of society. Appadurai stated that there are five components of global cultural flows that affect the culture of society in the current era of globalization, such as ethnoscapes, technoscapes, mediascapes, financescapes, and ideoscapes (Soenaryo, 2011: 100-101). Ethnoscapes is the movement (movement) of people or people from one country to another, such as tourists, immigrants, refugees, and labor. Technoscapes is a technology flow that flows at high speed and knows no national borders. Mediascapes refers to media that can spread information to different parts of the world. Finanscapes are financial or money movements that are difficult to predict in the era of globalization, while ideoscapes are components related to political issues such as freedom, democracy, sovereignty, welfare and a person's rights (Ardika, 2007: 14-15).

The explanation above that mentions the mobility of people / residents, technology, media, money, and freedom / rights of someone who is in the area of colonial buildings in the City of Singaraja is very difficult to dam. This is a contemporary socio-cultural phenomenon that collides with the interests of preserving cultural heritage and its environment. At a cultural level, globalization cannot be said to be a process of Western expansion driven by balanced economic interests. It is more correct to say that globalization is disjunctive relations (separation) between the flow of money, media technology, ideas, and people. This means that globalization involves the dynamics of movements of ethnic groups, technology, financial transactions, images displayed in the media, and ideological conflicts whose direction or goal cannot be determined or driven by a "master plan". The speed, scope and impact of these movement flows are fractured and not interconnected. Metaphors that are often used are uncertainty, contingency, and chaos that replace order, stability, and systems (Barker, 2014:

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111). In the context of the existence of cultural heritage in Singaraja City, as the understanding of the era of globalization with the flow of global culture, the indicators are clearly occurring today, especially in several colonial buildings that are strategically located on the side of the road, such as along Jalan Ngurah Rai and around port.

Referring to Appadurai's view, of the five components of globalization, there are two components that directly influence the building of cultural heritage, namely the components of ethnoscapes and ideoscapes. The ethnoscapes component, when seen in the case of colonial buildings in Singaraja City, is a phenomenon that is not directly realized. The growth of urban population and the mobility of the movement from people to cities in search of employment opportunities will demand development in all fields. One of them is the construction of entertainment centers, shopping malls, and ruko (shop houses). This problem caused the availability of land to be increasingly needed by the government to accommodate the rate of population growth and community movement, so that land use sometimes neglected spatial planning which resulted in the displacement of colonial buildings at certain points. On the basis of common interests, sometimes the policies taken by the government were very detrimental to the preservation of colonial buildings, in the ideoscapes component, in the sense that there was an underlying ideology that demolished colonial buildings and replaced them with shopping center buildings. This ideology is a market ideology that is oriented towards the economic and profit sectors. In this case the colonial building is considered unable to bring profit and its existence is very wasteful, old-fashioned, and obsolete, so that eventually replaced with a new building. In this case once again the Regional Government is very powerful in this change, on the pretext of making the people prosperous, willing to sacrifice cultural heritage buildings with historical value.

For example, the Sasana Budaya building is also affected by globalization. This building used to have a thatched roof with wooden reconstruction, complete with Balinese ornaments that adorn its front. Currently this building has been replaced with a new building model, with reconstructed concrete, and the supporting pillars are decorated with ceramics (Figure 2 and 3).

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Figure 2. Sasana Budaya Building with wooden reconstruktion (left), Source: Dutch Document

Figure 3. Building with concrete construction (right) Source: Personal document

Architecturally, the buildings that were erected during the colonial period did not all adopt the buildings of the colonial origin area. Some of the buildings look combined with traditional architecture so that it seems very good, like the building of the cultural gym above. However, it is unfortunate that traditional architecture is considered ancient because it cannot develop with the changing times. Like clothes, so that archipelago architecture can be reapplied by society, it must be presented as a present-day figure. This means that the archipelago architecture must be collaborated with the current trends. On the other hand, traditional architecture has meaning in every part so that this architecture becomes complicated and takes a lot of time. The differences between easy and complicated, as well as fast and long, are what make the existence of traditional architecture increasingly displaced by global capitalist insistence.

Implications of Marginalized Colonial Buildings in the City of Singaraja

Colonial buildings are silent witnesses of the existence of the Dutch colonial government in Indonesia. The building contains historical values that can be understood to prepare for the construction of a city in the future. Colonial buildings as relics of the past must be preserved for the development of science. Based on the Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 11 of 2010 concerning cultural heritage, it has appealed to the public to maintain and preserve heritage buildings from the past.

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Low concern for colonial buildings which are evidence of the authentic history of this region. If these historical buildings are not preserved, their existence will be increasingly marginalized and will gradually disappear. As is known in the colonial building physics reflects a certain style period which is loaded with value, so it is very important to be preserved. However, this preservation effort seems to be being done half-heartedly by the government, as said by informant Nengah Bawa Atmadja;

"Historical awareness among decision makers, namely the Regional Government related to history is still lacking. History with its traces, that is, colonial buildings are the past that are considered incompatible with the needs of the present and / or future, could be destroyed (interview on May 14, 2020).

The above statement shows that the Regional Government as the control holder of historical buildings is very selective in preserving it. Selective and uneven preservation of all buildings results in inequality. With this imbalance, it is not impossible that buildings that are not treated with preservation will be left damaged by age so that in the future they will be destroyed. If it has been destroyed, Singaraja City will lose evidence of the history and identity of the city which is the pride of the people of Singaraja City. Besides that, the colonial building is a means of education about the history of the past that occurred in Singaraja City which has important cultural values. Such cultural values will shape the cultural system in facing future cultural challenges. For example, more and more cultural heritages in the past have been destroyed or replaced with new buildings, for various reasons it can cause the younger generation to lose their identity, which is actually reflected in many cultural heritages. In fact, feelings of pride and love for cultural heritage must continue to be nurtured in order to learn the great values contained therein.

CONCLUSION

The factors that led to the marginalization of colonial buildings in Singaraja City were the development of the city community, local governments, and the insistence of global capitalist interests. The development of urban communities on the one hand provides an opportunity to continue to increase urban activities in the economic and social fields. Along with the increase in population, the need for land greatly influenced the existence of colonial buildings in Singaraja City. In addition, the role of the capitalists who succeeded in inculcating their profit-oriented economic ideology contributed to the hegemony of the thinking of the

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government and society. This led to a sense of mutual benefit so that the colonial building was gradually eliminated.

The regional government was the entity with the most authority in protecting colonial buildings, instead it took part in the marginalization process. Until now, the colonial building inventory data in Singaraja City is not owned by the Culture Office. The reason given by the regional government in the form of budget constraints was only an alibi to ignore the desire to achieve the government's desire for profit, even though it would sacrifice the existence of colonial buildings in Singaraja City, especially colonial buildings that could not provide direct economic benefits. In addition, the insistence of global capitalist interests has the most vital role in the process of marginalizing colonial buildings. The influence of globalization has not only had a major influence on the development of the science, technology and economy sectors, but has also penetrated the cultural sector.

These marginalized factors have implications for the loss of historical evidence, the loss of urban identity, and the diminishing love of the younger generation for cultural heritage. The physical remains of Dutch colonial buildings are one of the historical records in real form that reveal the continuity of people's life from the past to the present, as well as historical evidence that can be remembered by the children and grandchildren of the content of its historical aspects. The existence of Dutch colonial buildings also provides uniqueness and authenticity in a city because it contains elements of history. All of this will be lost if the marginalization continues and eventually it will run out without remaining. Colonial building is an identity in which the existence and values contained in it are assets that can be passed on to future generations as evidence of the history and culture of a nation. With the disappearance of colonial buildings, a city will lose the link of the past, present, and future which becomes the uniqueness and identity of the city itself.

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