As a beach-loving citizen, I feel a sense of guilt every time I witness the harsh realities of beachside neighborhoods.
I just finished watching Joko Anwar’s Nightmares and Daydreams (2024). This series is just so dope. At first, I was excited because this series brings sci-fi into the Indonesian setting, but then, as I watched each episode until the end, I was flabbergasted by how accurately the series portrays the dark side of Indonesia. Shout out to the whole crew, especially the writers and the research team for precisely bringing up the poverty issues in Indonesia without over-exaggerating and sugarcoating.
Although I claimed episode 5 as my favorite and episode 6 as a honorable mention because Fachry Albar is in it, I would like to elaborate more on episode 4. Let’s set aside the lore and focus on the society portrayed in the storyline.
This episode is set in a neighborhood facing imminent eviction. As you can see, the residents of the village refuse to leave their homeland. They have a deep sense of belonging and attachment to their community. Yet, the government insists on relocating them because the community lacks legal ownership of the land, and there are plans for more profitable land use in the works.
For me, the topic of relocation is a novel addition to pop culture, and I appreciate Joko Anwar for addressing it because it provides a valuable opportunity for reflection. This reminds me of my own experience when I visited a coastal village that kind of dealing with the same problem.
In this coastal area, a diverse group of people, from babies to elders, grapple with daily economic challenges. Their livelihood depends largely on the fishery sector, which is significantly affected by climate change. During hurricanes, high waves prevent them from venturing into the sea to fish, leaving them without income for the day. Moreover, their daily lives are marred by tidal floods that damage their homes and public infrastructure.
In a discussion, when they heard the word “relocation”, they began to shudder, as if their whole lives just flashed before their eyes. Some sat in silence, some held back tears, and some showed expressions of disgust and anger. It was like a scene from a horror movie.
It turns out they have been relocated many times throughout their lives. They had previously lived elsewhere and were eventually moved to this place by the government. They refused to move, with one person even saying, “I’d rather die here than ever leave this place.”
This is a serious matter that should concern the government. While relocating people from vulnerable areas can be a viable option for addressing environmental problems caused by climate change, it is crucial to ensure that these people do not lose their livelihoods once they leave their homes. Relocation should be comprehensive, providing not only a new place to live but also the necessary resources to sustain their lives, such as workplaces, facilities, and more.
But then again, it is not as easy as flipping the palm of your hand. The community will most likely choose to stay, usually due to financial and economical problems. They refused to use their time to adapt into new lives and jobs, as it can be a difficult transition, or they simply don’t have enough money to move. Additionally, they may have a strong bond with their homes. I had another experience visiting a place with similar circumstances, and a resident there said, “If I move out, who will take care of this place? This place will just vanish.”
To this extent, the government can support their adaptation to climate change impacts through infrastructure development and capacity building. Their determination to stay can be supported with a policy to empower local strategies towards an adaptation. However, we may need an unconventional solution for this. For example, infrastructural approach such as road elevation cannot merely be the answer for the whole problems. As the floods keep arriving for worse, they will never stop to elevate the road until the point where their house is lower than the street. However, relying solely on structures like seawalls or dikes can have unintended consequences, particularly on coastal ecosystems. According to the Department of Environment, Climate Change, and Water in New South Wales, seawalls can disrupt beach habitats above the high-water level, leading to habitat loss. This may cause difficulties for their fisheries livelihood.
The coastal communities know their place better than we do. It is important to accommodate their preference to remain in place. Sadly, their voices haven’t taken into account as a basis on the decision making.
Several studies has shown the importance of cultural and social ties as a means to adapt. Berger et al. (2023) argue that cultural heritage can be used as a transformational resource to support climate adaptation. In my point of view, this can be seen in such cities like Venice. I’ve read it in the UNESCO News that the integration of heritage and disaster risk reduction policies are incorporated in the “Venice Declaration”, where they embodied hazard-resistant technologies in their traditional building and implement sustainable land use.
Obviously, we still got a long way to do this in Indonesia. We cannot just merely take the best practice and implement it — of course we have to consider many X factors along the way. But I think having a success story can be an encouragement for us. This might be hard and kind of a dangerous prayer, but I hope someday I have the power to actually help these people.
Supporting resources:
Berger, H. M., Erbach, T., Kuehn, A., Possmann, J. P., & Langendijk, G. S. (2023). Rising Waters, Rooted Memories: Cultural Heritage as a resource for climate adaptation in Sinking Cities. Journal of Delta Urbanism, (4).
Department of Environment, Climate Change, and Water in New South Wales. 2010. Draft guidelines for assessing the impacts of seawalls.
UNESCO. (2012). Venice Declaration adopted at international Conference on “Building Cities Resilience to Disasters in Europe: Protecting Cultural Heritage and Adapting to Climate Change”. https://whc.unesco.org/en/news/869
