Why Jakarta, Indonesia? Who would want to open a nightclub there? Michel Lu, that's who; illustrious entrepreneur whose credits include Singapore's Centro - The club, (covered in the October 2001 Issue of mondo•dr) Restaurant 360, Embargo, Lola, Inner Grooves, Lustra Communications, Asian Electronic Music Festival, Essential NYE, Centro FM and Isola Music. Why not any other Asian city?

Indeed. "Why Jakarta?" was the first question mondo•dr put to Michel Lu: "As a group, Centro is actively seeking expansion throughout Asia and ultimately, beyond. We were very, very close to opening in both Hong Kong and Shanghai last year but circumstances delayed those aspirations. Jakarta happened to fall into place with the right location, partners, and so on. We saw a great opportunity and jumped on it. Jakarta is a dynamic city with lots going for it and we have great faith in the project." His confident view on Jakarta is exemplary and, after an eye-opening, gob smacking, ear-splitting week in Jakarta, one that is shared by this mondo•dr correspondent.

Even though every part of Centro was not completely finished at the end of January, many people were surprised that so much had been achieved in so little time. Just a few months previously it had been a vacant double block. Now it's an upmarket elongated shopping mall called Dharmawangsa Square City Walk. Replete with heavenly frescos painted on the ceiling, and including fashionable galleries, boutiques, restaurants and music stores. Centro occupies all five floors including the rooftop at one end of the mall.

Architects and interior designers on the Club Centro project were Singapore based Eco.Id Design who had already proved themselves as designers of Club Lola, part of Centro 360 Singapore. Eco.Id Design conceptualized the sparkling interiors as well as the overall architecture in collaboration with Michel Lu. They were responsible for the design from schematic to design development as well as construction details providing bi-monthly visits to Jakarta to maintain design intention. According to Calvin Sim, Eco.Id's Project Director, Michel Lu must be given credit for orchestrating the various F & Bs Ñ the bar on the second floor, the exclusive 50 seat Japanese restaurant on the third floor, a continental restaurant on the fourth floor as well as the roof top VIP area and alfresco grill.

All very well, but what about the club technology? mondo•dr asked Centro's Group Operations Manager, Tony Cheung to tell us what's so special about the sound and lights. Non specific on technical details his response however gives a major insight into Centro's unique vision. "We've put a lot of thought and time and research in the planning of our sound and lights to suit our venue and the feel we want for our place, other clubs will just leave it up to a consultant or distributor who just wants to sell their product and are not very interested in what the customer wants. So to do this, all of us at Centro have to learn about light and sound technology so we know what is really required to achieve our standard, .... there are a lot of cowboys out there trying to make a fast buck." Experienced venue operators know all too well about obliging suppliers and distributors who are more than happy to offer their services as sound and lighting designers only to discover a few months down the road that the products are rarely used or ineffective in their particular environment.

Multi-talented Tony Cheung, at one time a fashion photographer in Asia, was employed two months before Centro Singapore had even started construction as PR Manager. Once the directors found out he was also a qualified chef and had extensive experience in restaurant service, operations and bar experience, he was quickly given a change of position. As an individual with club experience in various Asian cities mondo•dr asked him about the basic differences of running a club in Jakarta compared to other Asian cities, "Definitely there are a lot of differences in each country you open but you can use similar strategies and then modify them to meet the market you are trying to capture..... Some differences are Singaporeans generally drink more than Indonesians on a whole and usually don't take much persuasion and go out with the intentions of partying hard, whereas Indonesians depend on what their friends are doing or where.... maybe it's because people in Indonesia are more spread out and are very much influenced on the group outing aspect. But don't get me wrong, there are some very big party goers (here). They just take more enticing to get them started. And Jakarta people dress up more than Singaporeans when they venture out ... but this is the challenge Ñ to educate the night life scene by showing them variety (and) hopefully quality..."

Eco.Id's Calvin Sim has more to add "... in Jakarta, there is an area for live band performances at the second storey bar which Centro Singapore doesn't provide. VIP spaces in the club are bigger in Jakarta as compared to Singapore as there are more 'VIPs' in Jakarta. There are other differences like the sophistication and spending habits of the clubbers... etc. We try to fine tune our design to address these issues."

Who actually concepted and planned Centro's lighting? Uniquely, according to Tony Cheung "It was a combination of people from Directors, DJs, our Singapore LJ and myself, we are all interested in the lights as it can set the mood of the night and can heighten the impact of the music." And what about the extremely dim lighting that pervades Jakarta clubs, do Centro's management and clientele follow these preferences? "As for the club lighting it all depends on the style of music playing how bright or dark the lighting is. At Centro, sound and light go hand in hand, we like to follow our own path and not follow others."

This venue is extremely fortunate to have one of Asia's most prolific DJs in attendance as part of the crew; Jonathan Yeo, one time resident of Zouk Singapore, helps with entertainment, promotions and marketing and even manages to find time to DJ (under jovial protest).

Club Centro has the happiest and highest morale of any club visited by this mondo•dr corespondent. There is a joyous cohesiveness of all who work there, no doubt due to Michel Lu and co's judicious selection, from the security guards who peacefully meditate before commencing their duties, to the warm welcoming smiles of the staff. This is a club where everything is 'above board', there are no 'dark areas'. One patron was even heard to comment "This is the only club in Jakarta my wife could come to alone." It's also commendable that despite Michel's background with the 'glitterati' and his long experience with Elite Model Management in various Asian cities, Club Centro's target market is not specifically the elite rich and internationals but ''lifestyle enthusiasts of all age groups starting from young adults" demonstrated by a reasonable admission fee which despite being in one of Jakarta's better districts, is no higher than that of 'downtown' clubs.