--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Please just look at those Indonesian…" description: "\"Please just look at those Indonesian cities: Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan... are there any other cities on earth, of that size, with such an absolute chron..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/735/andre-vltchek-5249_art_please-just-look-at-those-indonesian-cit_922360.jpg" --- # Please just look at those Indonesian cities: Jakarta… ![“Please just look at those Indonesian cities: Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan... are there any other cities on earth, of that size, with such an absolute chronic lack of culture, and institutions that are supposed to make people think? Like theatres, archives, grand libraries, concert halls, art cinemas…” quote by Andre Vltchek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/735/andre-vltchek-5249_art_please-just-look-at-those-indonesian-cit_922360.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/735/andre-vltchek-5249_art_please-just-look-at-those-indonesian-cit_922360.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/735/andre-vltchek-5249_art_please-just-look-at-those-indonesian-cit_922360.jpg) > “Please just look at those Indonesian cities: Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan... are there any other cities on earth, of that size, with such an absolute chronic lack of culture, and institutions that are supposed to make people think? Like theatres, archives, grand libraries, concert halls, art cinemas, progressive bookstores... There is nothing here.” [Andre Vltchek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-vltchek/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Some major cities lack cultural institutions that foster critical thinking and artistic expression. **In simple terms:** Cities can miss essential cultural infrastructure. Key Takeaway Advocate for cultural development. Themes culture urban planning education Mood critical concerned Type social commentary activist When to use this quote - city council initiatives - NGO projects - community arts programs - urban revitalization Key Concepts public policy social capital artistic access Questions to Reflect On - What steps can citizens take to demand cultural spaces? - How can private sector support cultural infrastructure? A Different Perspective Funding and political will often limit cultural growth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/culture/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Jakarta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jakarta/) [Library](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/library/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Theatre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theatre/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [Towns are suffering from all these things, we should unite until we are all satisfied, man cannot be killing each other as if we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/compay-segundo/towns-are-suffering-from-all-these-things-we-should-unite-until-we/) [Compay Segundo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/compay-segundo/) > [Noble life demands a noble architecture for noble uses of noble men. Lack of culture means what it has always meant: ignoble civilization and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-lloyd-wright/noble-life-demands-a-noble-architecture-for-noble-uses-of-noble-men/) [Frank Lloyd Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-lloyd-wright/) > [“I’d see the arrow. I’d think about attitude and perception. Maybe the green arrow on the ceiling is to Muslims as the KJV in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tucker-elliot/i-d-see-the-arrow-i-d-think-about-attitude-and-perception-maybe-the/) [Tucker Elliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tucker-elliot/) > [I'll always end up coming back to Jakarta because I got given my career by being here. I want to be able to come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gareth-evans/i-ll-always-end-up-coming-back-to-jakarta-because-i-got-given-my/) [Gareth Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gareth-evans/) > [I grew up in West Jakarta, in a middle-to-low-class neighbourhood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rich-brian/i-grew-up-in-west-jakarta-in-a-middle-to-low-class-neighbourhood/) [Rich Brian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rich-brian/) > [I have seen, the desperation and disorder of the powerless: how it twists the lives of children on the streets of Jakarta or Nairobi…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/i-have-seen-the-desperation-and-disorder-of-the-powerless-how-it/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [“It was radicals like you and your father that hijacked your faith, hijacked a few planes, and made thousands of children orphans in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tucker-elliot/it-was-radicals-like-you-and-your-father-that-hijacked-your-faith/) [Tucker Elliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tucker-elliot/) > [“The first ring glowed in the distance, lit up by consumerism that was brought to Jakarta courtesy of western cultures and Christian nations, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tucker-elliot/the-first-ring-glowed-in-the-distance-lit-up-by-consumerism-that-was/) [Tucker Elliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tucker-elliot/) > [I absolutely love Indonesian restaurants! We have many Indonesian restaurants in Jakarta and I'd like to be able to visit all of them to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rinrin-marinka/i-absolutely-love-indonesian-restaurants-we-have-many-indonesian/) Rinrin Marinka > [“It’s not that I had more important things to do or that I didn’t want to help with whatever problems were interfering with her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tucker-elliot/it-s-not-that-i-had-more-important-things-to-do-or-that-i-didn-t-want/) [Tucker Elliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tucker-elliot/) > [Not in this specific form. But all great cities are inhabited by ghosts. A book of this kind could probably be written about Jakarta,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/not-in-this-specific-form-but-all-great-cities-are-inhabited-by/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) > [“The only thing I knew for sure is I hadn’t slept in ten years. Not really. I’d been fighting my own monster since nine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tucker-elliot/the-only-thing-i-knew-for-sure-is-i-hadn-t-slept-in-ten-years-not/) [Tucker Elliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tucker-elliot/) > [I travel to Jakarta, I see what an important country it is. I've been working with them for a year.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatoli-boukreev/i-travel-to-jakarta-i-see-what-an-important-country-it-is-i-ve-been/) [Anatoli Boukreev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatoli-boukreev/) > [“The sun appeared between the twin spires of the cathedral as its light reflected off the crescent and star that rose out of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tucker-elliot/the-sun-appeared-between-the-twin-spires-of-the-cathedral-as-its/) [Tucker Elliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tucker-elliot/) > [“I guess it could be worse. My name could be Tlaquepaque, or Irkutsk, or Pyongyang. Or, you know, Pittsburgh. Sometimes I flip through the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tamara-summers/i-guess-it-could-be-worse-my-name-could-be-tlaquepaque-or-irkutsk-or/) [Tamara Summers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tamara-summers/) ## More by Andre Vltchek > [If people in Indonesia look 'different', they are afraid. Racist insults fly if someone does not look like part of the majority. Indonesia is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-vltchek/if-people-in-indonesia-look-different-they-are-afraid-racist-insults/) [Andre Vltchek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-vltchek/) > [The majority of Arab people would side with Russia and China, not with the West. And they'd throw their 'elites' groomed in and by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-vltchek/the-majority-of-arab-people-would-side-with-russia-and-china-not-with/) [Andre Vltchek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-vltchek/) > [The majority of Arab people see the United States and Israel (definitely not Iran or Syria) as the greatest danger to the world. Could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-vltchek/the-majority-of-arab-people-see-the-united-states-and-israel/) [Andre Vltchek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-vltchek/) > [ Donald Trump is horrendous, but he is also honest. Both Presidents \[Bill\] Clinton and \[Barak\] Obama were great speakers, but unrepentant mass murderers. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-vltchek/donald-trump-is-horrendous-but-he-is-also-honest-both-presidents-bill/) [Andre Vltchek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-vltchek/) > [In order for the second scenario to win, the world would have to return where the struggle for independence and against Western colonialism and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-vltchek/in-order-for-the-second-scenario-to-win-the-world-would-have-to/) [Andre Vltchek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-vltchek/) > [I don't think independance of Catalonia would have any great positive or negative impact on the rest of the world. As an internationalist, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-vltchek/i-don-t-think-independance-of-catalonia-would-have-any-great-positive/) [Andre Vltchek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-vltchek/) > [Russian people, like their Chinese comrades, are well aware of what is going on. And there are tens of millions of their martyrs who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-vltchek/russian-people-like-their-chinese-comrades-are-well-aware-of-what-is/) [Andre Vltchek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-vltchek/) > [Some socialist movements in Egypt, Tunisia and Bahrain, for instance, were genuine. I was making films about the so-called Arab Spring, and I'm well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-vltchek/some-socialist-movements-in-egypt-tunisia-and-bahrain-for-instance/) [Andre Vltchek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-vltchek/) > [To get out of desperate situation can only be done by education and by openness for Indonesians. Everybody who can, should be participating in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-vltchek/to-get-out-of-desperate-situation-can-only-be-done-by-education-and/) [Andre Vltchek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-vltchek/) > [The people of Indonesia have to learn, realize, that fighting for a better country is great and inspiring. Like those men, women, and even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-vltchek/the-people-of-indonesia-have-to-learn-realize-that-fighting-for-a/) [Andre Vltchek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-vltchek/) > [Bernie Sanders is like those liberal members of the German National Socialist Party during the WWII, or of the Italian Fascist movement during Mussolini.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-vltchek/bernie-sanders-is-like-those-liberal-members-of-the-german-national/) [Andre Vltchek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-vltchek/) > [North Korea is no threat at all. I have already spoken about it during countless televised interviews. I visited North Korea and mingled with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-vltchek/north-korea-is-no-threat-at-all-i-have-already-spoken-about-it-during/) [Andre Vltchek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-vltchek/) > [The outraged citizens of Indonesia - lawyers, doctors, engineers, scientists - should be speaking up; they should be shouting. And of course, the voices…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-vltchek/the-outraged-citizens-of-indonesia-lawyers-doctors-engineers/) [Andre Vltchek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-vltchek/) > [The only reason so many are so pissed off at the US is because they see North America as promoting a 'bad deal' for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-vltchek/the-only-reason-so-many-are-so-pissed-off-at-the-us-is-because-they/) [Andre Vltchek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-vltchek/) > [Of course such a failed state as Indonesia is fully supported by Western academia and the mass media, because it does what it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-vltchek/of-course-such-a-failed-state-as-indonesia-is-fully-supported-by/) [Andre Vltchek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-vltchek/) [Explore all 102 Andre Vltchek quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-vltchek/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. 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The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. 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