An hour after Indonesian President Joko Widodo announced that the country’s capital would move from Jakarta to a site on Borneo island , there was a surge in Google searches for “Penajam Paser Utara” and “Kutai Kartanegara”, the two municipalities the new city will straddle. Indonesians led the way with the searches, followed by Malaysia , then Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan. But it was Indonesian Twitter users who got the most creative, issuing memes and jibes about the tongue-twisting names of the two regencies and suggesting names for the yet-to-be named new city. “What’s the capital of the USA? Washington DC. What’s the capital of Indonesia? Penajam Paser Utara and Kutai Kartanegara. Wow, that is a long name,” said Twitter user @rosadicted. Borneo to be home of Indonesia’s new US$33 billion capital city Names suggested included Saint Jokoburg, Penakut (a mash-up of the two regencies that translates to “scaredy cat”), Jokowikarta (in reference to Widodo’s nickname Jokowi), Jakarta the second and Kota Indonesia (Indonesia city). Another user, Ruli Harahap, said he was “disappointed Widodo did not choose to name the capital Jokopolis. Or Jokowiville”. Other users pointed out that Kutai Kartanegara could be confused with Kertanegara, an area in south Jakarta, which is home to former general Prabowo Subianto , who earlier this year unsuccessfully challenged Widodo for the presidency. Under Widodo’s plan, Jakarta, now a congested, polluted and sinking city of more than 10 million people – its name in Sanskrit is roughly translated to “victory achieved” – will remain as Indonesia’s business and financial capital with the administrative centre moving 1,900km away to East Kalimantan. “After the capital is relocated, Jakarta is still the priority for development,” Widodo said. “This city will continue to be built, at regional and global scale, as the city of business, finance, trade, and services. “We are still going to use the 571 trillion rupiah (US$40 billion) budget for [Jakarta’s] urban regeneration. We have discussed the technicalities, and we are ready to execute.” Jokowi asks Indonesians: If not Jakarta, where should new capital be? Indonesia’s plan for a separate administrative hub – which could cost up to US$33 billion but is aimed at spreading some economic activity outside the country’s most populous island of Java – is similar to what countries like Malaysia have done. However Putrajaya, the seat of government, is 25km away from Kuala Lumpur, and midway between it and the international airport. It was planned by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad in the 1980s, launched in 1995, and occupied by all government agencies, except three ministries, by 2005. Jakarta now rivals Beijing and New Delhi for dirty air The site for Indonesia’s new capital was picked as it has a low risk of natural disasters , is in a strategic location in the middle of the country, and is close by the developed cities of Balikpapan and Samarinda. The government owns 180,000 hectares of land in the area, and has said the new city will be smart and green, different from Jakarta, which now rivals New Delhi and Beijing for its bad air . Jakarta’s population swells to 30 million on weekdays with commuters from the surrounding region. It is also sinking by about 20cm annually. After Monday’s announcement, Widodo shared a map of the capital’s new location on his social media accounts and explained the reasons behind the move. Pada siang yang berbahagia ini, saya menyampaikan bahwa pemerintah telah melakukan kajian mendalam, terutama tiga tahun terakhir. Hasilnya, lokasi ibu kota baru paling ideal adalah di Kalimantan Timur, sebagian di Kab. Penajam Paser Utara dan sebagian di Kab. Kutai Kartanegara. pic.twitter.com/CjxTz3joQ4 — Joko Widodo (@jokowi) August 26, 2019 He said he planned to relocate most ministries by 2024, when his second and final term ends. Nirwono Joga, a Jakarta-based planning expert, said he did not think this was realistic. “It took at least 20 years to complete Putrajaya but Jokowi has set the target to relocate the new capital by 2024 – I don’t think this is realistic from a city planning point of view. “Maybe we can build the basic infrastructure in the next five years, but we still need to build the housing, a proper defence system, and to create a world-class design for a smart, sustainable capital.” Indonesia shares Borneo island with Malaysia and Brunei , and the military estimated it would need 134 trillion rupiah to protect the new capital. This would be more than Indonesia’s military budget of 127.4 trillion rupiah for 2020 and was not included in Widodo’s relocation fund of 466 trillion rupiah. “Indonesia needs to reassess its defence of the new capital, in case of conflict with Malaysia and Brunei,” Nirwono said. “Do we have the money to protect it? “The plan for the new capital is to make it as ‘a city in the forest’, this will require a different military defence system. What makes it worrying is if everything is hastily relocated before the president’s term ends.” Environmentalists are also worried that massive construction will disrupt the livelihoods of local communities and whether enough thought has been given to ecological conservation. Petr Matous, a lecturer at the University of Sydney’s Faculty of Engineering, told Bloomberg : “New roads cutting through forest areas break the continuity of the forest cover and typically more slash and burn deforestation happens in their vicinity. How might Sri Mulyani play a ‘bigger’ role in Jokowi’s new cabinet? “Once a tropical forest canopy is broken and the local microclimate changed, more fires are likely to occur,” he said, adding that this would have a further negative effect on East Kalimantan’s fauna. Other Jakartans suggested the new capital should also give a nod to Indonesia’s diversity. The country has hundreds of ethnic groups and while the bulk of its 271 million population is Muslim, it also has Christians and those of other religions. An estimated 2 per cent of the population is ethnic Chinese . Rudi Valinka, author of A Man Called Ahok , a biography about former Jakarta governor, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama , said on Twitter: “The Chinese are famous for opening a remote area and turning it into a vibrant and developed place since they engage in trade, from construction material to delicious cuisine. “So, for the new capital, please set up a Chinatown for [Chinese-Indonesians].” Connect with us on Twitter and Facebook