A young journalist navigates her life in the busy and noisy city of Jakarta, while enjoying the sparks from the little «whispers» she admires through her friends. NCS: Jakarta is a sample of the sparks of joy she finds in the big city, the things she holds on to when embracing the place as her new home.

I came to this sprawling megapolitan of a sinking city in October 2017. To tell you the truth, I hate it here.

In my defenseless ears, Jakarta is a noisy, bustling sprawl of a dystopian space where every sound is competing to be louder than the other. The noise is all around you, 24/7. Floating, unwanted, swarming in your ears and suffocating you like all kinds of other pollutants.

Jakarta is trapped in a web of sound pollution – an unwanted jumble of noise that somehow finds a way to weave its sonic waves into a harmonious chaos.

However, no matter how I try to escape, this city always lures me back. Offering enticing opportunities. Unfurling interesting stories. Handing me a thrilling new gang of friends. Showing me vivacious colors worn by other people who are like me, trying to survive and enjoy exciting times in between.

And somehow I realize that among these loud, jumbled noises that are the byproduct of corporate greed, there are still prevailing whispers in seemingly mute corners. These whispers, like weeds on concrete pavement refusing to die, persevere in their own unique tunes.

The contributors involved in Norient City Sounds: Jakarta are capturing these whispers through their own perspectives. Filmmaker Kathleen Malay brilliantly captures the backdrop of everyday life in Jakarta through a soundwalk featuring the signature sounds of the criss-crossing urban hamlets. Researcher Rugun Sirait wrote «Jakarta Keras», a eulogy titled with wordplay that comments on the nature of Jakarta, which can be hard and loud at the same time.

Writer Dymussaga creates a narration of going to a music gig, while musician Anida Bajumi presents her POV of independent gigs she attends in the city through the video footage she has been collecting. Punk/metal musician and organizer, Saifulhaq, shares a complete guideline for Jakartans who want to organize a show for touring bands, consulting his decades of experience connecting this city with metal kids/punks worldwide.

Photographers Maezara, Aghnia, and Mundor present a series of photographs dedicated to the city’s sounds: Mae captures the corners of the city with her signature poetic, soft colors; Aghnia shows us the front facade of buildings frequented by music enthusiasts in the city; and Mundor presents us a collection of his years capturing heartfelt moments in stage photography.

My old friend Dania, who I have known since she was just a boy, shares a warm conversation with me where she recounts how she navigates her life as a transwoman, indie musician, and activist in the capital city of a country where queerness is considered a disease and a sin.

Meanwhile, musician Bin Idris shares about his life growing up in a conservative Betawi family – the ethnicity native to the city of Jakarta. A conversation with him triggered my memory of watching my family’s favorite show as a kid, Si Doel Anak Sekolahan, the first visualization of what life in Jakarta looked like for me, as depicted on TV.

As an accompaniment to this series, three playlists were compiled– Whispers #1, #2 and #3 – as a billet-doux to this noisy city that we love to hate.