REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- A Jakarta historian, Alwi Shahab, said Pasar Senen is one of the iconic markets in the capital city. It was built on August 30, 1735 and had a long history.

The name of Pasar Senen was taken from the local habits of the people in Jakarta to buy and sell daily stuffs in the market every Monday. The merchant was dominated by Chinese ethnics. Because of more and more visitors came to the market, it was finally opened on other days since 1766. 

Along its way as the oldest market in Jakarta, the name of Pasar Senen was ever changed to be Vinck Passer, referred to the name of the architect developer, Justin Vinck. "Pasar Senen was built in the same day with Pasar Tanah Abang. It was on the same day. Pasar Senen was built by a landlord who was also an architect, Justin Vinck. Previously, the land was owned by a member of the Indian Council named Corrnelis Chastelein," said Alwi Shahab who familiarly be called as Abah Alwi when talking to Republika.co.id on Thursday.

At that time, the Dutch government built markets based on the community needs. Pasar Tanah Abang was built to specifically meet the needs of textile industries. "Pasar Senen (was built) for other purposes, such as daily needs," said Abah Alwi.

Around 1930s, Pasar Senen became a gathering place for underground fighters of Stovia and young intellectuals. "Youth like Chairul Saleh, Adam Malik, also Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta often met there."

In the Japanese era and after the independence, Pasar Senen also became a gathering place for many artists. "There were Sukarno, M. Noor, Wim Umboh, and HB Jassin," said Republika senior journalist.

A total of eleven fires had stroke the historical market. The first fire was happened in Januari 15, 1974, as a part of the Malary Incident. Twenty two years after the first incident, Pasar Senen was burnt again in 1996 and let 750 kiosks to completely use up. 

After the era of 2000s, the fire was being more oftenly happened. It is ranging from 2003, 2008, 2010, and 2014. In 2016, Pasar Senen was stroke by two fires. Today, in the beginning of 2017, two fires were also happened in Januari 17 and Januari 19.   

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