An emplacement is a settlement built amid a tea plantation to accommodate tea pickers who cannot afford to buy their own homes. Such an emplacement has existed since the Dutch colonial era.
By
·4 minutes read
Komala, 22, and Resty, 20, were relaxing on the wooden floor of the sitting room, facing the television. It was June 23, 2019 and they were watching Bangunnya Nyi Roro Kidul (The Rise of Nyi Roro Kidul), starring Indonesia’s queen of horror Suzanna. The film’s creepy scenes failed to scare them. The siblings even giggled now and again as Dorman Borisman and Bokir cracked jokes on screen.
A third of the film had played when Komala’s child, Karina, 5, joined them after playing in the front yard of their home in Emplacement V Cipuspa, Sukaresmi village, Rancabali district, Bandung regency, West Java. She was followed by Resty’s husband, Dede, 23, who had just come out of the bathroom. The atmosphere was even more cheerful with the arrival of Kartini, 39, who had just returned from a neighbor’s house. Kartini is the mother of Komala and Resty.
Resty no longer lives in the emplacement because she lives with her spouse, a factory worker in Ketapang district, Bandung regency.
Resty no longer lives in the emplacement because she lives with her spouse, a factory worker in Ketapang district, Bandung regency. But as it was his day off, they were paying a visit. It has become customary for people living outside the emplacement to visit their families there on Sundays.
An emplacement is a settlement built amid a tea plantation to accommodate tea pickers who cannot afford to buy their own homes. Such an emplacement has existed since the Dutch colonial era. Usually the settlement is difficult to access, like this one in Sukaresmi.
To get there, travelers need to use a car with double differential gears or a motorcycle and pass through an undulating estate road only about 1.5 meters wide. When we went there, part of the road with a gradient of 30 degrees was being repaired.
To go to school, children have to go out of the village or even to district towns, which takes an hour to reach. Only up to the junior high school level is available. In spite of tea estate children’s lofty aspirations, they are faced with limitations, so they have no way of fulfilling their dreams.
The eyes of Revi, 13, were gleaming as he revealed his aspirations for becoming a teacher. When met in an emplacement in Babakan hamlet, Banjarsari village, on June 22, 2019 (22/6/2019), Revi described a teacher as awesome, broadly learned and noble-hearted for being ready to share their knowledge with children. However, he was pessimistic about his ambitions.
“I can at most go to senior high school like my older brothers. I don’t want to force my parents if they have no money,” he said.
A majority of children living in tea estates are worried about not being able to pursue a higher education due to cost constraints. They’d rather choose to follow in the footsteps of their parents by working in tea plantations.
Cecep Yanto, 30, head of Babakan hamlet 2, Banjarsari village, Pengalengan, Bandung regency, said over 50 percent of the hamlet’s around 1,200 people worked in tea estates, the rest being farmers and cow breeders. The highest level of education for residents is senior high school.
Furthermore, most of the tea pickers don’t dare to leave the region where they were born and brought up.
Tea pickers earn a relatively low wage; many earn as little as Rp 400,000 (US$29.36) per month, which is far from enough to pay for schooling. Furthermore, most of the tea pickers don’t dare to leave the region where they were born and brought up.
Access to education and cost limitations offer them limited options. Many of them finally chose to get married at an early age in hopes of living a better life with their husbands. Kartini was married when she was not even 17. Her children were not far different. Their neighbor, Kamila, 24, only finished her second year of junior high school before marrying and now she has two children, Merry Merliana, 7, and Ari Mulyana, 3.
Kartini was still with her daughters, sons-in-law and grandchildren watching the horror movie Bangunnya Nyi Roro Kidul. They were laughing more than being frightened to see Suzanna, George Rudy, Dorman Borisman and Bokir acting. For them, the eerie images on screen were nothing compared to their reality of living with crippling financial constraints as tea pickers. They are wilting amid the fresh shoots of tea leaves. (MHF/RTG)