April 2009 -The standard ruko (house-shop) are abundant in Batam as well. There are however many empty buildings and in the vicinity slum-like shops are erected. The island of Batam, directly under the city-state of Singapore, was supposed to become a showcase for the Indonesian economy. Nowadays however, the island should not be named special. It looks like a standard place in Indonesia with gloomy ruko and empty buildings.
