Kebun Bibit: Surabaya, East Java

Surabaya is one of those cities that you wither love or hate. A booming city and is the industrial and commercial hub in Java. It is fantastic to explore and a lot of travellers don’t spend enough time there. Steeped in history, Surabaya played an important role in the independence of Indonesia.

A long-time resident of Surabaya, Duncan Graham of Indonesia Now, wrote an article about one of Surabaya’s prettiest places, Kebun Bibit – a clean and delightful place to relax in the concrete jungle.

From garbage to gardens: A Surabaya solution

Regular readers of these pages may have gained the impression that while Surabaya is economically blooming it’s not exactly a city of flowers. If so, here’s an apology.

Indonesia’s second-largest metropolis is certainly overcrowded and polluted. It’s a port and an industrial center, gray and grimy. The streets are paved with grit, not gold. But it also has charms, made all the more interesting through the virtue of rarity. Here are a couple.

Kebun Bibit (seed garden) also known as Taman Flora (flower park) is a pretty little tree-studded park close to the city center and an ideal spot for another shopping mall.

That it has escaped that retail virus is thanks to past city administrations who demonstrated that rare political quality called foresight — and this was long before conservation became an issue.

Thirty years ago this area was one big wet hole in the ground, and, as all planners know, human nature abhors an urban vacuum.

The euphemism “sanitary landfill” has long been used to describe the standard way of quitting trash, so inevitably this spot was designated a rubbish dump.

Unusually, it later became a welcome patch of green when there was no more space for crushed cans and shredded plastic. Now, it’s a two-hectare delight, made even more acceptable by the banning of street vendors and other hustlers.

The Surabaya city government promotes the East Java capital as a green and clean metropolis. In most suburbs that’s an absurd claim — though not here.

At Kebun Bibit you can sit hassle-free under a canopy of trees from across the archipelago. You’ll be shielded by leaves big and small, every shape and shade of green imaginable plus a few others demonstrating the limitless nature of nature.

Each one is labeled with its Latin name, though sadly not with the provenance. This is a place where stressed students and frazzled business folk come to eat their lunch and read reports, though watching furtive young lovers with fumbling fingers seems to be a welcome distraction. The ambience is almost European.

It’s also a venue for concerts and outdoor meetings when the organizers don’t have sponsorship because their cause isn’t fashionable.

The 13 staff at Kebun Bibit propagate plants, promote medicinal herbs and maintain two hothouses. They’ll chat to you about the plants and their qualities, but they won’t sell their produce; surplus stock goes to help beautify the other city green spots, mostly tissue-sized.

Not to worry because next to the park is Pasar Bunga Bratang (Bratang flower market), Surabaya’s largest. It has also been built on the land once used to dump rubbish (which was also a swamp) and the rehabilitation has transformed the area. Here’s proof that reclamation does work.

There are many other flower sellers around the city, but they tend to squat on river banks and median strips near open drains giving easy access to water.

Bratang has been purpose-built, and it shows. The alleyways are necessarily narrow, but are well paved and clean. Buyers don’t have to wade through mud with the stench of gutters in their nostrils to find their orchid of choice.

The main hazard is bumping into hanging pots or tripping over vines that push their probing tendrils into every empty corner. If it wasn’t for the nearby traffic you could hear the plants growing.

For Java is the world’s most fertile island and Bratang a most fecund place. Keep moving or you’ll sprout leaves; this is a real urban jungle.

Subandri, chair of the Bratang Florists’ Association said 200 stallholders operated in the area. Chinese-Indonesians were the main buyers of flowers with many favoring European varieties like roses. Although Indonesia has a rich botany,the ornamentals from overseas that get most attention. Another example of cultural cringe?

Small potted plants sold best because they could fit into apartments and back yards, Subandri said. Few people had the space for bushes and trees. These bigger plants usually sold to hotels and property developers.

“The recent boom in real estate has been a great benefit to business,” he said. “There’s new housing going up everywhere, mostly to the west of the city.

“This is a very good spot for us. There’s plenty of parking space and it’s popular with tourists. There’s a bird market next door that also brings in people. Many come just for recreation, but usually end up buying something.”

So next time you’re in the 700-year-old city and need a break, try the flower market and the seed garden: No entrance fees, no pressure and best of all is the green.

(Duncan Graham)