The rustle of the trees greeted me as I stepped into the park that afternoon. My ears caught the sound of the MRT train passing by. Last weekend, I visited the newly opened Martha Christina Tiahahu Literacy Park. The visit to the Literacy Park started from my boredom looking for a place to go during the weekend. I usually just go to malls or shopping centers. Luckily, while scrolling my social media, I found this new healing spot on my homepage.

The naming of the Martha Christina Tiahahu Literacy Park was also not chosen arbitrarily. The figure of Martha Christina Tiahahu describes her tenderness as a woman and her spirit and the courage in fighting for her homeland as a warrior. This character is interpreted in the design and depiction in the form and space of the Literacy Park.

It was only when I saw its location on the map that I realized that this park was an old existing park that got revitalized. Before the revitalization, I have passed the park several times, which is located near the Blok M BCA MRT station. However, the old park has lost its prestige by the presence of other fancy spots around it, such as MBloc or various cafes near Blok M Square.

My curiosity arose. How is the condition of this park after the revitalization? Especially now, when it rebrands itself as a Literacy Park. Finally, I decided to visit the Martha Christiana Tiahahu Literacy Park. Here's how it went.

Strolling Around the Literacy Park

I started my journey from Bundaran HI by taking the MRT (Moda Raya Terpadu). It only cost me Rp. 8,000 to get to Blok M. After traveling for about eighteen minutes, I finally arrived and got off at the Blok M BCA MRT station. Based on the map at the station, I was recommended to get off via exit F so it would be nearer for me to get to the Literacy Park. Other than MRT, visitors can take Transjakarta to get to the Literacy Park, get off at CSW Kebayoran Baru, and walk about 350 meters to the park's main entrance.

From the exit F of the MRT station, visitors can actually walk for a while to enter the park area. However, I decided to enter the park from the main door, which is located across MBloc. The first thing that caught the eye were several standing banners with Literacy Park writings on them. This could be a marker for visitors who confuse the location of the main door of the Literacy Park. Besides these kinds of markers, there are also signposts and security guards who are ready to help visitors. 

JakHabitat Gallery

Walking forward from the main entrance, there is the JakHabitat Gallery on the left. JakHabitat itself is an integration program that provides cheap housing for low-income people. This integration program is managed by the Jakarta Public Housing and Settlement Service as well as Perumda Sarana Jaya. The JakHakbitat Gallery functions as a marketing integration center for JakHabitat's assets and properties. By visiting here, residents can find out information about affordable housing with various schemes and categories under the auspices of JakHabitat, Zero DP Residential Rupiah, TOD Residential, Rusunawa, and Settlement.

Although I didn't come into the JakHabitat Gallery, I did go up to the top floor of the gallery. Visitors can access it by taking the stairs at the side of the gallery. Upstairs, there are several sitting areas with flowers in the middle.

Four Pavilions Surrounding the Amphitheatre

Straight from JakHabitat Gallery, I finally entered the pavilion area. The garden pavilion is designed in a circular shape, with four pavilions with glass doors surrounding an amphitheatre. There are four pavilions which will later function as reading, literacy and community spaces, co-working spaces, and culinary tours. However, currently only one pavilion is available and can be visited, which is the reading, literacy and community rooms.

Reading, Literacy, and Community Room

Since I was curious about the concept of a literacy park, I entered the reading room. I felt the cold air from the Air Conditioner as I entered the room! Also caught by my eyes, a blue bookshelf that stretches from the left to the right of the reading room. The collection reaches 3,000 books with various types and topics. Ranging from fiction to non-fiction books, books for children to adults, novels to history and culture books. This facility is collaborated with the Jakarta Gramedia Library and the Pelangi Eka Nusa Community.

In addition to the many books, there are also quite a lot of seats that can be occupied. If you want to work, maybe you can sit in a chair with a desk. If you don't feel like sharing a table with other visitors, no worries! Besides a sharing table, there are also separate ones. For those of you who just want to read a book while relaxing yourself a little, maybe you can sit on the sofa or on the floor with a bean bag.

Considering that this reading room is open to the public, please be quiet and don't be too noisy. Currently, this room is focused as a reading room. But later, the community can also use it as a space to exchange ideas and network.

Three Digital Book Reading Point 

You want to read a book outside the reading room? Do you feel that reading physical books is not for you? Read digital books. One of the unique things that I found at the Literacy Park was the concept of reading digital books for free. In collaboration with the Jakarta Library, the Literacy Park provides 2,000 digital books that you can access at three reading points, which are the Healing Garden, Plaza Anak, and Pavilion. It’s easy-peasy to access. You just need to scan the QR Code available at the reading points. After that, just follow the instructions when accessing it!

Amphitheatre

When I visited the Literacy Park, there was no appearance at the Amphitheatre Plaza Kabaresi. That afternoon, there were only a few visitors standing there to take pictures, and some children running back and forth. Even so, according to the officer, in the future this Amphitheatre will accommodate various communities to present entertainment and artistic performances.

Abubu Roof Garden

Whoever designed the Martha Christina Tiahahu Literacy Park is good at using even the smallest unused space. The circular upper floor of the pavilion is also used as seating for visitors. From the edge of the fence, visitors can see the landscape of the Literacy Park, even some places around the park.

Healing Garden

After I was satisfied looking at the garden from the top floor, I went downstairs and back to exploring the unvisited places. Apparently, there is a Healing Garden spot behind the pavilion! This spot is filled with shady plants and trees. There are some seats as well. It's really suitable for those of you who want to rest after getting tired of strolling around, or just want to work from the park but would like to feel some air.

Children's Plaza

Turning to the right from the healing garden, there is something that caught my attention. It is the children's play area or mostly known as the Children's Plaza. This place is a bit of a contrast from other spots in the Literacy Park. If the other arenas’ designs in the Literacy Park are mostly industrialist style, this one spot is more patterned and colorful. The Children’s Plaza itself is equipped with a mural that can be used for wall-climbing for children along with several other play facilities. Even though the infrastructure is designed to be safe for children, for example designed with a certain height, children still need to be supervised by adults when playing. While waiting for the children to play, parents can lay out a mat while enjoying the breeze.

Behind the Revitalization of the Literacy Park

After my visit from the Literacy Park, I found out various information behind the development of this park. It turns out that the Literacy Park also has several benefits, such as supporting the vision and mission of Jakarta as a World Literacy City, supporting the provision of a third space for the community, developing a literacy culture, and supporting pedestrian movement, and the development of Blok M and Sisingamangaraja Transit Oriented Areas

After knowing the noble reason behind the construction of the Literacy Park, I fell in love with this park even more! Hopefully Martha Christina Tiahahu Literacy Park can operate optimally soon with more activities and people visiting. For those of you who haven't been there, it’s time for you to visit it this weekend! Martha Christina Tiahahu Literacy Park is open daily from 07.00 to 22.00. The location is strategic and can be reached by MRT or Transjakarta. If you wanna know more about the literacy park, kindly follow @tamanliterasi.jkton Instagram.