Each sound was someone's life happening

Quotation

«And then I understood, each sound was someone’s life happening. Through alleyways where air conditioners thrum, oil sizzles and children play. Where humble sandals become toys, slapped against walls in rhythm, kicked across concrete in games only they understand. Where the violent drill of construction meets the song of a vendor’s bell. The call to prayer becomes a temporary sanctuary amidst urban cacophony. The food cart vendor arranges his future in metal and flame. The saccharine sound of advertising audio looping in a minimart, promising happiness in packages.»

This quote is excerpted from Kathleen Malay’s accompanying text for her short film «Anywhere You Wander» . It is part of the virtual exhibition «Norient City Sounds: Jakarta», curated by Gisela Swaragita.

Biography

Kathleen Malay is a filmmaker from Jakarta whose work spans narrative and creative short films, fashion films, documentaries, TV commercials, and music videos. Formerly a journalist for VICE Indonesia, she hosted documentaries such as The Debtfathers and Pride and Prejudice: LGBTQ Rights in Asia’s Newest Nation. Her visual works have been featured on platforms including NOWNESS, NOWNESS Asia, SHOWstudio, Crack Magazine, and Boiler Room TV. Follow her on Instagram.

Published on August 27, 2025

Last updated on August 27, 2025

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Norient City Sounds: Jakarta

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Anywhere You Wander

Film

by Kathleen Malay

What is Jakarta’s signature sound? What kind of sonic wall will encapsulate you once you set food outside your door? Anywhere You Wander is an echo of Jakarta's restless hum – engines, calls to prayer, street vendors, and passing crowds. Listen closely where you stand, and follow wherever the noise goes.

I set out, on foot mostly. And walking, I heard what I had not really listened to before. The chaos that lived beneath suddenly rose to meet me. It had always been there, this restless sound, but I had made myself deaf to it. And then I understood, each sound was someone's life happening. Through alleyways where air conditioners thrum, oil sizzles, and children play. Where humble sandals become toys, slapped against walls in rhythm, kicked across concrete in games only they understand. Where the violent drill of construction meets the song of a vendor’s bell. The call to prayer becomes a temporary sanctuary amidst urban cacophony. The food cart vendor arranges his future in metal and flame. The saccharine sound of advertising audio looping in a minimart, promising happiness in packages. The never-ending roar of cars and motorbikes, full of people on their way to their own destinations. A million possibilities moving past me every moment. When the rain comes, it speaks in a hundred voices - on a carport roof it drums, on concrete it slaps, on leaves it whispers. Jakarta breathes through these sounds. Millions of small happinesses and enterprises creating something larger than themselves. A rhythm that never stops, only changes its voice from morning to night, from one season to another. This is not chaos – this is the sound of being alive.

This film is part of the digital publication Norient City Sounds: Jakarta, curated and edited by Gisela Swaragita.