Antique Bikers

A few weeks ago, I met ‘Bung Karno’. We had a quite long talk. We discussed much about old bicycle or onthel. This ‘Bung Karno’ is the treasurer of Komunitas Onthel Batavia (KOBA).

Every Sunday morning around the circle of HI at Jl. MH Thamrin, Jakarta we could see a group of people wearing old-fashioned costumes gathers with their old bicycle. They are the members of KOBA.

This ‘Bung Karno’ is actually named Chandra, who is famous with his ‘Bung Karno’ outlook performance, complete with the costume and accessories such as the hat, glasses, pins and hand stick.

Basically, the members of KOBA are united by the same kind of hobby. They love having and riding onthels. But then it’s not only onthel that they are crazy about. They always try to harmonize the old time atmosphere on onthels with the costumes they are wearing when they gather.

Onthels represent the era of early beginning of the 20th century. It firstly came to Indonesia in 1910 used by the Dutch people in Indonesia. It was an effective and helpful mean of transportation at that moment.

All the things identical to that era inspire the members of KOBA to bring out and wear on anything thay have to fit the idea of onthel.

Not long after meeting Mr Chandra, I came to also to the celebration of KOBA 2^nd anniversary in Gedung Juang 45, Jakarta. It was an exciting moment as now in 2007, I could see a very different view when hundreds of people were riding their onthel. I saw men wearing light brown jacket and knee-length of pants with the same color and black boots. There was also a man with a full costume of doctors in the year before Indonesia proclaimed its independence as a nation. Then, I catch up much of the KOBA members wearing uniforms of Indonesian troops. In the same time, other guys were wearing regular civilian costume and holding Bambu Runcing (Sharpened Bamboo), a famous traditional weapon used by Indonesian people in the battle of war before 1945. And it was completed with others who were with a Dutch long dress, an old european young boy outfit, and even those who wore white costume of Dutch administrator in the war time.

Mr Chandra said that after all we can see that KOBA members are not only onthel lovers, but also a wider antiques fans. That is why it always becomes an eccentric moments everytime they gather or have a celebration.

As onthel lovers, KOBA realize that they need to preserve those old bicycle and Indonesian antiques things as a whole. “We try to keep it as much as we could, preventing any way of bringing them out of the country,” Chandra explained.

KOBA is like an old brother to other similar communities across Indonesia such as Bogor, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Surabaya and several cities in Sumatra, Kalimantan and Sulawesi. But then KOBA has also turned into a kind of wide Indonesian brotherhood. “Finding a friend and best friends is quite difficult. But getting a single one enemy is easy,” Chandra said wisely. Together they are having time every Sunday at Jl. MH Thamrin, going out of Jakarta bringing onthel, hunting any kinds of antique, sharing any family matters, and being involved in several national and local events or celebration. “By this organisation, we share our hobbies and build a closer relationship as Indonesian as well,” Chandra proudly said.

*photo taken from Mr Chandra’s collection