After my temple run concluded in Yogyakarta, I went back to Jakarta for a couple of days before my Cebu Pacific flight back to Manila. At the hostel, I met two other Filipinas who became my accidental tourist buddies. Since we were all going home the same night, we decided to spend our last day just roaming the city aboard a tuk-tuk, stopping for some sights and shopping along the way. After walking out of the National Monument park (Merdeka Square), we were approached by a thin, middle-aged man wearing blue slacks and a tucked-in polo, introducing himself as an employee of the local tourism office.
When an Accommodating Phony Tourism Officer Turned Hotheaded at Istiqlal Mosque
While I already knew that he was not from the tourism office, he seemed harmless, amiable, and cheery enough that we found it more of an effort to dismiss him than just accept his offer. I mean, we knew he would ask for a 'tour guide' fee afterward, and it was fine with us because he promised to take us inside the Istiqlal Mosque, located just across from the National Monument Park (which we kind of referred to as Quezon Circle due to its almost similar appearance and vibe). He kept telling us, "Hurry, quickly," but with a smile, as myself, Tania, and Carmel trailed him ushering us inside the grand mosque.
Inside the Grand Independence Mosque
The word "Istiqlal," which meant "Independence," was used to name the largest mosque in Southeast Asia upon its completion in 1978 after a long seventeen-year construction phase. Our tour guide walked with the demeanor of a confident man, telling people along the way that 'they're with me'. I was not really sure about the procedure for visiting mosques, but at the ones I had visited in the past, non-Muslims were always welcome to go inside, such as the Golden Mosque in Cotabato City and the Likas Bay Mosque in Kota Kinabalu. He showed us the way to the changing room where we removed our shoes and wore a robe to cover our street clothes.
If the sheer size of the Istiqlal Mosque was impressive on the outside, the interior brought forth a world-within-a-world feeling. The towering twelve stainless columns that adorned the grand praying hall easily dwarfed dozens of faithful seen deeply engrossed in their prayers from afar. Our jovial tour guide told us that "this is the biggest mosque in Asia." Though I told myself to consult Wikipedia first before believing him, I could not deny that the hugeness of the mosque provided a palatial atmosphere.
The courtyard was also impressive and gave us an interesting perspective of the mosque. Unique from other mosques, Istiqlal only "has a single minaret to symbolize the divine oneness of God." We posed for some pictures near a hanging large drum, referred to as a 'Bedug', which was made of cow skin and used with the 'call to prayer' or the adhan. Our guide was very accommodating and even encouraged us to take our time taking pictures. We liked him already.
"This became popular after Obama visited this place," he said. In fact, he was right; Obama really stopped by the Istiqlal Mosque in 2010, and it had also been graced by the presence of other world leaders like Bill Clinton, Prince Charles, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, and even the late fallen despot, Muammar Gaddafi of Libya.
The Turn in Temperament
The mosque was built in front of Jakarta Cathedral upon former Indonesian President Sukarno's suggestion to convey a symbolism of harmonious relationships between the Muslims and the Christians in Indonesia, our guide explained to us. Meanwhile, Tania's chocolate melted inside her bag, and as she and Carmel laughed about it, our jovial guide was slowly losing his fun attitude by showing a bit of agitation. "Hurry, quickly, hurry."
Toward the end of the small garden path at the back of the mosque leading back to the highway, he stopped us and recited his spiel. "I am a volunteer tourism officer; while I took you inside the mosque, I will ask for voluntary money, twenty Euros each ($25)." Wow! Voluntary amount, but he specifically mentioned twenty Euros each. At our confusion, Tania thought she heard 20,000 Rupiah (1.8 US$), so as Carmel was about to give him 60,000 IDR for the three of us, he threw a wild tantrum by kicking an invisible soccer ball and told us, "I get no salary, just this free uniform." He was on the verge of crying and we felt bad, but at the same time, there was no way we would pay him $25 for each of us.
So I just handed over 50,000 IDR—and both Carmel and Tania pitched in around 100,000 IDR more. I did not know how much we were able to pay him, but he was still in a bad mood on the way out, so much so that when he saw another woman, he gestured "ten only," while the woman laughed at him.
I guessed we paid him $10 as opposed to the $75 (sixty Euros) he was demanding. I thought $10 was a fair amount for work that did not even last for an hour and a half. When we reached the road and were about to board a tuk-tuk, our cheery-turned-hotheaded phony tourism officer bid us a polite "Goodbye" and a nod. At that moment, he went back to his nice personality, probably realizing he tried to milk us for a bigger amount, and we never budged; regardless, it was still not worth it to plant a seed of anger in us and vice versa.
