As a commuter that has to pass it almost every day, I had often wondered who these people might be. For one, who would be patient enough to roam about the congested city to explore a new mall so sizely? Who would be blessed enough with the "shop till you drop" luxury in this city? The logical answer seems clear: such a mall is but for a small circle of Jakarta's elites and a handful of expatriates and tourists.
On the second day of Eid Fitr this year, our family finally went there, in seach of meal. I witnessed its inside look resembled to beauty more than its outer. Frenzied people amassed on the floors offering motley of food; smells of newness and of tasty food mixed everywhere. Compared to other floors, these foodstall floors were busiest. We had to wait for minutes for seats and yet more for the food. When it arrived our appetite had diminished significantly, especially that of our daughter. Excepting these affordable food stalls, I observed many shops offering world-class articles that only big money can buy. I swear I could have picked in blindfolds stuff that would deprive my entire salary at one buy. Still, I also saw teenagers flocking around window-shopping in small groups looking at things beyond their financial reach. That'd have been counterlogical, if I hadn't thought that they were hanging about there for "un-shopping purposes," which only God and they themselves knew. Most of them couldn't afford the objects on display.
It is hard to deny that most Jakartans cannot afford the items offered by many luxurious shops in that mall. This proposition is as hard to reject as saying that the value of Rupiah will only decrease in time. Their low puchasing power is no secrecy and with the recent fuel price hike, it has been even reduced by around 30-50 percent. Expensive malls like this new one, therefore, will have to depend on three patrons: a small circle of Jakartan elites, a handful of expats and some tourists. (We can add the upper middle class here, but as they have been fiercefully pressed in the middle-as tax subjects and victims of inflation and exchange rates. The last thing for them to do is to spend money there. Those who fail to see it now will be brought to their senses soon.)
The dependence on such last two patrons will be very high for malls located in a city whose majority of population is poor. Therefore, sustainability of such malls will have to depend on their ability to attract non-locals, such as foreigners. Since Jakarta is not particularly a touristic destination, like Singapore for instance, these showy malls are doomed from the start. Their collapse is but a matter of time.
