Part I

“Medan City”

I was born at North Sumatera. Medan is the capital of the province of North Sumatera. I try to descript a little about Medan city. Maybe you have a plan to go to Medan oneday.

North Sumatera is the one of the Province in Indonesia. Northern Sumatera, with it’s colorful and ethnically mixed population, is after Java, the most crowded province in Indonesia. Currently it has over 11 million inhabitants and that overshoots Kalimantan or Nusa Tenggara. Dynamic Batak, Malay, Javanese, Indians, Acehnese and Chinese created a big variety of modern and traditional Indonesian culture.

The Capital of the North Sumatera is Medan. As the Capital of the North Sumatera Medan has a very strategic position. There are consulates of foreign countries and it is the primary centre of activities of northern Sumatra. Geographically, Medan is located at 3o30′ – 3o-43′ Northern Latitude and 98o35′ – 9o844′ Eastern Longitude, with a northward sloping topography and it lies at 2,5 – 37,5 meters above sea level.

Medan city is Indonesia’s third most populous after Jakarta and Surabaya, with approximately 2.5 million people. As the primary center of activities of Northern Sumatera, Medan has many shopping center, like Medan Mall, Medan Plaza, Sun Plaza, Plaza Medan Fair, Palladium Plaza, etc. Medan also has many old buildings in Medan that still retain their Dutch architecture. These include the old City Hall, the central Post Office, the Water Tower, which is Medan City’s icon, and Titi Gantung (a bridge over the railway).

There are several historic places such as Maimun Palace (Istana Maimun), where the Sultan of Deli still lives, and the Great Mosque (Masjid Raya) of Medan built in 1906.

The city has a mix of communities, reflecting its history. It is famous throughout Indonesia as the home of the Batak people, although, traditionally it is a Melayu Kampung. More recently more and more of the Batak ethnic minority have come to the city to make what was once a minority, become a fairly sized community. However, Batak homelands are found throughout North Sumatra. In addition, there is a large ethnic Javanese community, largely made up of the descendants of people transported from Java in the last century as part of the government’s transmigration policy, an attempt to relieve the chronic overcrowding of Java.

A highly visible component of Medan’s population is the large number of Chinese, who control much of the business sector. Finally, the city has a sizable community of Tamil descent who is commonly known as keling. A well-known Tamil market is the Kampung Keling. In addition to Indonesian, Batak Simalungun, Batak Mandailing, Batak Pak-Pak, Batak Angkola, Batak Toba, Deli Malay, Javanese, Hokkien (Min Nan), Tamil, Acehnese, Minangkabau and English are spoken.

Transportation

One of the unique features of Medan are the motorized becaks that are found almost everywhere.Unlike traditional becaks, a motorized becak can take its passenger anywhere in the city. The fare of riding a ‘becak’ is relatively cheap and is usually negotiated beforehand.

There are also more common transport like taxis and minibuses, known as sudako.
Railroad tracks connect Medan to Binjai and Tanjungpura to the northwest, to port of Belawan to the north, and to Tebing Tinggi and Pematang Siantar to the southeast.

The seaport of Belawan is about 20 km to the north. Polonia International Airport is located in the heart of the city. Kuala Namu International Airport is a new airport under construction and is due to replace Polonia in 2009.

A toll highway connects Medan to Belawan and Tanjungmorawa. A plan for the extension of this highway to Tebing Tinggi and to Binjai has been completed, and the central government is currently seeking investors to build the extension.

To be Continued…….