Onward! No Retreat!: The Story of Gelora Bung Karno
Great cities have great monuments, including magnificent sports stadium compounds built to signify the spirit of those cities. Stadiums were used as showcases to the world, acting as ambassadors of their nations. Usually, The Olympiads are used to showcase the city and their respective sports stadiums. London is the most glaring example of hosting the Olympics, having organized the Olympics three times, in 1908, the post-second world war era in 1948, and the new millennium in 2012.
In the late 1950s, The First President of Indonesia and one of the Independence proclaimers, Soekarno, had ideas of making new Indonesia and Jakarta, in particular, to be seen as bright as a lighthouse (Indonesian: Proyek Mercusuar). An Olympiad-sized Sports complex was one of them.
After the 1958 Asian Games in Tokyo, Japan, The Asian Games Federation awarded the next Games to Indonesia, which Soekarno enthusiastically accepted. The Indonesian Leader chooses Senayan, Jakarta as the Sports Complex’s location as it stood between the then existing city center of Jakarta and Kebayoran Baru, the newest suburb of Jakarta at the time. The local Betawi inhabitants of Senayan were expelled and relocated to Tebet.
Construction started in 1960, funded by soft loans from The Soviet Union, and ended in 1962, right in time for the 4th Asian Games. Among those who attend the Main stadium’s first Pole erection was The Soviet Union Premier, Nikita Khrushchev. The official opening of the Gelora Bung Karno Sports Complex was one month behind The Opening of the 4th Asian Games, which saw 110.000 spectators crowd the main stadium.
Because of the project associated with the First President of Indonesia, the Sports Complex name was named Gelanggang Olahraga Bung Karno (Gelora Bung Karno for short). Used For Politically motivated reasons, in 1963, the Sports Complex hosted the First Games of the New Emerging Forces (GANEFO) for The Communist and anti-imperialism/colonialism Nation in response to Indonesia banned from the Olympics for excluding the Republic of China (in Taiwan) and Israel in its 4th Asian Games.
The Sports complex namesake was ousted from power two years later. Its name was changed to Gelora Senayan by his successor, Soeharto, lessening the Soekarno cult of personality, but then reversed back by the 4th President of Indonesia, Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur for short). During the New Order (Orba in Indonesian), the sports complex was used many times for several SEA Games editions, sports, and miscellaneous events. The record in the Main Stadium attendance was 150.000 people attending a domestic Football match in 1985, spilling the athletic tracks, far surpassing the official capacity.
After Hanoi backtracked from its host responsibilities, Jakarta and Palembang were selected as the host for the 2018 Asian Games, putting Indonesia at the Continental Stage once more. The two cities try to revamp their infrastructure for the Games. In terms of development, Jakarta was more in need since its major sports renovation was in 2007 for the AFF Championship, and its transport system was in dire need of an upgrade. For example, The Jakarta MRT and LRT were supposed to open in conjunction with the opening of the Asian Games but instead opened a year later. The 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang ran smoothly as there were no pressing critical issues. Spectacular Opening, Closing, and the enthusiasm of the crowds lit up the Games atmosphere.
To put things into perspective, as the Indonesian economy was not doing well, the building of the Gelora Bung Karno Sports Complex at the beginning was morally wrong. But today, the Sports Complex is seen as a boon to the Indonesian Morale, a beacon of the nation’s spirit. In the end, the Sports Complex serves as the original model for the rest of the country to follow and build, repeat and even surpass its glory (Gelora in Indonesian).
-DFF (with special thanks to Mohammad Haikal and Theodore Olav Purnomo for helping with photos, source, and editing)
