French President Emmanuel Macron came to Jakarta to attract Indonesians with selfies and sweet words. Instead, he got a bunch of emotional tweets – not cute.
His convoy drove into the Indonesian capital on Wednesday afternoon, promptly entering peak hours. By night, the roads in Jakarta were blocked and had a bad temper, and netizens were rushing to social media to let him know exactly how they felt.
Macron posted a cheerful selfie with some Indonesian students and wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter): “Indonesia loves France – it feels mutual!” But the comment section quickly turned into its own digital traffic jam.
“You caused hours of traffic!” one user complained. Another added: “Your visit to our country last night caused a catastrophic congestion. Hopefully you had a nightmare when you visited here.” One third said explicitly, “No, we hate you Macron.”
Videos of deadlock on the main roads of Jakarta are all the rage. A clip on the city’s main business floor Sudirman showed along the nightmare that the car was barely moving – except, of course, the squeaky cleaning lanes reserved for the presidential convoy.
To be fair, Jakarta is not known for its smooth rides. With over 11 million residents and an obsessed culture, transportation is the daily battle. But Macron’s visit ignited the game, which was the powder keg of public frustration.
The local police hurriedly cleared everything. “Not Macron,” said Transportation Director Komaruddin. He insisted that the deadlock was due to the rise in the middle of the week in the vehicles, not the action of the French leader.
Nevertheless, he admitted that the road was cleared “only for a moment” when Macron’s convoy passed.
Even Macron himself was reportedly trapped in Jakarta traffic. His wife was also delayed from her visit to the museum.
Jakarta is one of the most crowded cities in the world, with millions of people commuting from nearby areas in addition to having over 11 million residents.
Indonesia has 17,500 islands – there are many reasons not to stay in dense, smoke-ridden capital.
Most travelers to Indonesia want to quickly escape one of the world’s most crowded cities and will only briefly see the vast city-street streets on the way to the island’s beaches and volcanoes.
Busy traffic smoke has long meant that thousands of motorcyclists clogged the face covers on the streets during peak hours.
Research shows that the ongoing impact of air pollution in Asia makes it a global health challenge compared to alcohol, cigarettes, dirty drinking water or traffic accidents.
Indonesia is the largest economy in Southeast Asia and has been investing in infrastructure development to improve growth and connectivity.
However, traffic in Jakarta is still bad, and many arrivals will quickly lag the capital’s air quality quickly to pass through Java and from there to snorkeling paradise in Darrenpok or to Komodo National Park.
Since Jakarta was carrying smoke and traffic chaos, the government has even built a new capital, Nusantara, in the Kalimantan area of Borneo Island, which is no longer feasible in the long run. Furthermore, the city is suffering from frequent flooding victims.
Jakarta’s infamous crowded streets forced many to rely on often shared motorcycles for transportation. Soeren Stache/DPA
Epic traffic congestion and air pollution have put pressure on Jakarta’s population for years. Carola Frentzen/DPA
Jakarta’s air quality and endless traffic congestion mean few tourists stay in the capital for a long time before heading to Indonesia’s volcanic areas and islands with pristine beaches. Soeren Stache/DPA
