Jakarta: a Misunderstood City
Herald van der Linde, Wednesday, 17 February, 14.00
Jakarta, for most people, conjures up images of sultry, dusty air, nightmarish traffic jams, shopping malls selling identical ware and, of course, floods. Yet there is so much more to Indonesia’s capital than meets the eye. Inspired by the vibrant mix of people who have arrived over the centuries and made this place their home and the labyrinthine kampung that criss-cross the mega-city, Herald van der Linde casts a unique look at the history of Jakarta. He tells a story through the eyes of the individuals who have walked the streets through the ages and shows how some of the challenges confronting the city today – congestion, poverty, floods and land subsidence – mirror the struggles the city has had to face in the past.
Herald van der Linde is HSBC’s chief Asia equity strategist and, with his Indonesian wife, is based in Hong Kong and Jakarta, where he wrote his Master’s thesis. He has also worked in South Africa and Taiwan. His book, Jakarta: History of a Misunderstood City, was published in 2020. He is currently writing a book on How Asian Stock Markets Work.