The party is over but at least we have been left with some great lessons. The recent celebration of Jakarta's 476th anniversary at the National Monument square was a failure, or so say many residents. Only a few Jakartans, in fact, were aware that June 22 was the climax of the celebration.

Many people have said that with the exception of the first few years, the celebration of the city's anniversary has become more and more monotonous, failing to put the city and its residents in a festive mood, with the consequence that residents shun the party.

The recent Jakarta anniversary fiesta was obviously managed by people who lack creativity, which would explain their failure to offer something fresher and more entertaining to the public.

Unlike the annual Indonesian Independence Day celebrations, Jakarta's anniversary is not a big enough event to cause a fever among the city's residents, who come from all parts of the archipelago.

Obviously, the scale of the Jakarta anniversary celebration is much smaller than that of Independence Day. Nevertheless, the city administration should have been able to find some way to induce the people to take a more active role in observing their capital city's anniversary. Jakartans could have, for example, celebrated June 22 in their respective neighborhoods, at their own initiative, with their own money and in their own way. By doing so they would have demonstrated their devotion to the city, instead of simply depending on the Jakarta Fair and gala events sponsored by the administration.

Note, for example, how Independence Day is always celebrated by the entire populace, down to the neighborhood level, with the government's role limited mostly to holding official flag-raising ceremonies. In this way, less money is spent by the government to celebrate August 17.

One might argue that money is of little consequence in celebrating Jakarta's anniversary. On the other hand, some people might say that the Rp 5.5 billion spent for the recent festivities was too much. The point is debatable. But the bottom line in this particular case is that the lackluster celebration this year hardly seemed to justify spending Rp 5.5 billion, especially since most of the money came from corporate donations.

We do hope that in the future more professionals can be given the opportunity to handle and manage the anniversary festivities in order to make sure that people will get at least something new from the events. Unless this is done, the city administration might do better diverting the money to other, more worthwhile, activities. After all, a host of other programs worth pursuing remain untouched due to a shortage of funds.

To mention a few examples: think about the more than 10,000 street children who need better care. Hundreds of thousands of poor people living in slums also need help. Why did the administration not set aside part of the Rp 5.5 billion to look after street children or destitute families as an anniversary gift from the city? The City Sanitation Office currently has just 700 garbage trucks to transport 23,400 cubic meters of garbage produced by city residents every day. At least 500 more trucks are needed to carry off the daily garbage. If the administration had not spent all the money on the anniversary, it could have bought at least two new garbage trucks that would have come in handy.

Then there is the plight of the Jakarta Fire Department. Several of its 150 old trucks have long been out of service, while the department receives only Rp 2 billion annually for maintenance. Why did the city's decisionmakers not distribute some of the anniversary budget to repair the fire trucks?

What seems to be seriously lacking in all this is a proper sense of crisis. The Jakarta administration should have set a good example to its residents by spending money based on a clear priority scale. Jakarta's residents would certainly appreciate it if the administration would, in the future, ask the business community to show more concern for social problems rather than extravagant amusements. By doing so the city administration would also help evoke a greater sense of solidarity among residents and businesses.