‘Playful Identities’ research blog

[I wrote this blogpost earlier for The Mobile City]

The BBC reports that Cubans get access to mobile phones, as Raul Castro lifts the ban on possessing them:

Cubans are to be allowed unrestricted access to mobile phones for the first time, in the latest reform announced under new President Raul Castro.

…

Some Cubans already own mobile phones, but they have had to acquire them via a third party, often foreigners.

Cuba’s rate of cell phone usage remains among the lowest in Latin America.

Now Cubans will be able to subscribe to pre-paid mobile services under their own names, instead of going through foreigners or in some cases their work places.

However, the new service must be paid for in foreign currency, which will restrict access to wealthier Cubans.

What strikes me is not only that one of the countries with the most restrictive political regimes and lowest mobile phone penetration percentages is lifting the ban. More interesting even is the way this is presented in various media as almost inevitably leading to huge social change. This news item is phrased in terms like reform (BBC), technological catch-up (Engadget), the new Cuba; Raul Castro is revolutionizing his brother’s island; change (Wired) [my emphasis]. Perhaps the strongest phrase I found on MobileCrunch: “The communist dominos are falling as the dictatorship of the proletariat realizes it can’t stand up against the relentless momentum of the mobile phone.” Here, the mobile phone is imagined almost as a natural force, logically leading to political reform, freedom and democracy.

This reminds me of Tim Cresswell’s keynote speech in which he showed how the term ‘mobility’ is always infused with meanings and values. In this case it seems the mobile phone becomes a symbol for reform, social change, modernity, political opening and transparency. I really feel his point about the value-laden aspects of ‘mobility’ (and consequently also ‘mobile technologies’) is extremely important for all working in the field of mobile technologies. The apprehension Tim voiced in workshop 2 towards the term “mobility paradigm” perhaps also stems from the realization that a paradigm - with enough people ‘in’ it - inevitably means basic concepts (like ‘mobile’) are accepted as validation and legitimization in themselves for working on them. And yes, we too realize that “The Mobile City” has exactly this rhetorical power: a whole new view on, and approach to the city, paradoxically both inevitable as a future image and simply here & now as an empirical fact.

This is Ramon. I met him at my favorite soto ayam breakfast spot at Jl. Ki Mangun Sarkoro. He has a very special job. He drives around on his scooter to collect cut hair from barbershops and deliver it to salons, where it is used for weaves and extensions. He works for a boss. When he finds many good long pieces of hair, he gets a bigger wage. Sometimes he gets nothing because there is no good hair. With a proud smile, Ramon says many celebrities you see on TV have extensions which he delivered.

On his scooter, Ramon covers all of Jakarta. He even goes to neighboring towns like Bekasi, Tangerang and Bogor (1 1/2 hours). Ramon regularly uses the handphone to communicate whether he has found any new hair, where he has to drop off, or where he can pick up. In easy times he gets about 3 calls every week. In busy times everyday.

Ramon owns his handphone since 2 years. It is not really advanced, he admits, but it does have a handsfree/audio set, and a camera. Ramon makes a lot of snapshots of all the special places he visits. He prints them out and puts them on his wall, for “kebanggaan sendiri” (personal pride). With a broad weave of the arm Ramon explains he has whole wall full of pictures. He feels he has become a kind of artist since he has got a handphone.

With a Flexi card from former state-owned Telkom, you can use public pay phones while travelling the Jakarta busway. I wonder who needs it anyway? Everybody travelling the busway has a handphone..Or maybe for those with empty batteries?

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(This is a somewhat more personal note on my stay here in Jakarta, for friends and family, that’s why it’s in Dutch).

Het is gaaf om weer terug te zijn in Jakarta na 7 jaar. Er is niet heel veel veranderd, behalve dat ze in mijn afwezigheid ineens een speciale busbaan hebben aangelegd op verschillende trajecten, waardoor de vrijwel voortdurende file waar je voorheen in stond enigszins opgelost wordt. Ik zeg enigszins omdat ik gisteren met die ‘busway’ twee uur gedaan heb over een afstand die ik achteruit hinkelend nog sneller had kunnen doen. Er zijn verkiezingen gaande in town voor de nieuwe gouverneur en daarbij hoort schijnbaar dat iedere armerik met een bromfiets ingehuurd wordt om geheel spontaan en enthousiast als een oprecht politiek betrokken burger de straat op te gaan om campagne te voeren voor ofwel de ene ofwel voor de andere kandidaat. En als je geen brommer hebt, geen nood, je kunt altijd nog achterop bij een ander, als je maar een vlag in je hand houdt. En anders hijack je gewoon met z’n allen alle stadsbussen die er zijn, sleep je je drumstel het dak op (ja echt gezien!) en maakt er op die manier een feestje van. 

De gelatenheid waarmee de Indonesiërs dit ondergaan is een van die prettige clichés die ervoor zorgen dat ik de situatie verder niet hoef uit te leggen. Het enige gebrom dat ik hoorde was iets in de trant van “als het zo moet hoeft die gouverneur van mij niet vervangen te worden”. 

Hieronder twee fotos van de overstap op Dukuh Atas (een druk kruispunt van de wegen Jl. Sudiman en Galunggung). Er zat weinig beweging in. Gelukkig heb ik veel memory in mijn telefoon, heb een paar albums kunnen beluisteren op weg naar huis.

kablog-j2me 2.0.8 for Nokia6233