Picnic in The Mall

This is quite a funny sighting: a mother, her daughter, and what looks like a friend were enjoying their lunch on the floor at Bandung Electronic Center (BEC).

I snapped the photo with my cell phone a few days ago.

Five Storeys of Electronic Goods on A Dirty Street

Here is the facade of Istana Bandung Electronic Center (BEC) on Jalan Purnawarman.

In terms of size, BEC is small compared to many other malls in this city. It's even located on a narrow, crowded, and dirty street with no functioning sidewalks which - since the opening of this mall - has been invaded by unrully street vendors and panhandlers. Amazingly, this mall is still a favorite destination among locals as well as visitors. That's probably because this mall has five-storey of stores of electronic goods and gadgets: cell phones, computers, laptops, cameras, and their accessories offered at competitive prices. So, it's a kind of one-stop shopping destination for gadget lovers.

Bandung Electronic Center (BEC): The Foodcourt

Foodcourts are the same the same everywhere. I mean, it's usually a huge hall with restaurants or food shops around it, often occupying a floor of its own, in a shopping mall. What makes them different is probably the "local content" - the local foods and beverages, and a little bit of decorative architectural features, like this one. The roof structural decoration at this food court located on the fifth floor of Bandung Electronic Center is, I think very attractive.

Reading Signs #1: Courtesy or Incompetent Lady Drivers?

Signs tell a lot of things about the society in which they are found. This one I photographed at the parking lot entrance of Bandung Electronic Center (BEC) on Purnawarman street, for example, may look simple and innocent. But if we read it carefully, it actually may not be as simple and innocent as it looks.

On the surface, the message of this sign looks like a courteous and privileged treatment for lady drivers. Underneath this surface, however, this sign also implies that lady drivers are being considered not as competent as their man counterparts. It is therefore both a statement of courteousity and inequality between men and women.



The fact that this sign is written in English may escape the scrutiny of native English speakers who live in a country where English is its first or second language. When read against the fact that English is neither the first language nor second language in Indonesia (read: Bandung, where this sign is located), a different set of conclusions may be drawn. First, we may conclude that there may not be a sufficient equivalence for the term in the Indonesian language (the conclusion of which, of course, is not true as the Indonesian does have a perfect match translation for it). Second, English is considered as a more prestigious language by the owner/management of this mall/business premises in particular, and the society in general. To the dismay of may patriotic and nationalistic Indonesians, this conclusion may be true. English has become a more and more prominent language in our daily life to the detriment of our own national language, Bahasa Indonesia.

As simple as they may look on the surface, signs do tell a lot about the condition of a society. Therefore, beginning today, I'm going to take you on a tour of sign reading in the city where I live: Bandung. This series of posts on sign reading, hopefully, will make us more aware of the complex nature of signs and represent the current state of a society, despite their simple and innocent look.

Text and picture by Eki Qushay Akhwan, all rights reserved.