Tempeh Village Cleans Up Slum Image

KOMPAS/PINGKAN ELITA DUNDU

A man makes tempeh in Koang Jaya, Tangerang city, Banten. Over the last two months, 33 tempeh producers in Koang Jaya have felt the benefits after their production site was declared a tempeh village. After receiving knowledge and guidance from the Small and Medium-sized Businesses Agency and the Environment Agency, the tempeh producers have improved the quality of their products and their environmental cleanliness.

Tempeh production areas are always thought of as dirty and slum-like. However, the tempeh kampung in RT 003 RW 002 of Koang Jaya sub-district, Karawaci district, Tangerang City, Banten, has busted this myth.

It was 10 a.m. The heat of the sun in the city of Tangerang stung the skin. However, the heat did not dampen the work of the tempeh makers in Koang Jaya. They boiled and stirred the soybeans in a drum on a wood-fueled fireplace.

Other workers were busy rinsing boiled soybeans. The water then flowed through a special sewage drain so the tempeh production site stayed dry and clean.

After they were cleaned, the soybeans were mixed with tempeh yeast powder and put in plastic or banana leaves. They don\'t use coloring and preservatives.

Achmad Turin, 44, a tempeh maker, has also implemented clean production standards for his business. "Since becoming a tempeh village about two months ago, we have been taught how to produce tempeh by paying attention to the environment."

After being "crowned" as a tempeh village, 33 workers in Koang Jaya were also trained to make clean tempeh as well as learning about marketing and business diversification. "So far, we have only sold raw tempeh. We have not yet thought of increasing added value such as by making processed tempeh for souvenirs or ready-to-eat tempeh," Achmad said.

Teti Kusmawati, 30, a tempeh maker since 2006, started producing soymilk and orek (stir-fried tempeh pieces) after participating in the training program. "A day, I produce 20 bottles [small size] and 20 packs of orek tempeh. I produce them for customers that make direct orders and I also sell them at the souvenir shop at the district office," she said.

Teti has not dared to produce in large quantities or to look for new marketing channels because this business is new. She admitted that she still had to improve her knowledge about processing soymilk and cooking orek tempeh so that the results were better.

"For soymilk, right, it doesn\'t last long. But orek can last a month. In the future, we hope that the marketing can expand. It can even enter modern stores, hotels and restaurants," said Teti, who became a tempeh maker after marrying Hamdan, 40, also a tempeh maker.

Tempeh makers such as Teti and her husband use one quintal of soybeans a day to produce dozens of two-meter long tempeh “boards”. Some tempeh makers use a small amount of soybeans for processed products.

So far, their tempeh products have only been sold to Malabar, Ramadani and Anyar Markets in Tangerang City.

The tempeh makers also have customers. So, they only produce a large volume of tempeh if there is a special order. "If you buy a lot, you have to order a few days in advance," said Sukadi, a tempeh worker from Ponorogo, East Java.

In a day, Sukadi produces 700 to 800 pieces of tempeh in different sizes. Among them are 250 packages of mendoan, or thinner tempeh. Each package consists of five thinly cut pieces of tempeh. Another 300 pieces of tempeh come in a triangle shape for bacem (sweet cooked). The remaining tempeh comes in blocks.

Evicted because of airport train project

Pepep Taufik, 47, a tempeh maker and local community figure, said the

Koang Jaya people originally lived in Kali Kober, Tangerang City. In Kali Kober, they have been around since the 1980s.

However, according to tempeh makers, the glory of the tempeh industry occurred during the era of president Soeharto. In addition to getting subsidized soybeans, the tempeh makers were included in the Indonesian Tofu Producers Cooperative in Tangerang City and were also offered a new production site in Koang Jaya.

"This tempeh home industry must be close to water or rivers. The location of production is not allowed to be in a public place. This is related to waste," Pepep said.

In Koang Jaya there are 115 plots of land for tempeh makers. The tempeh makers in Kober have been evicted and relocated to Koang Jaya since the 1990s because their land was used for the airport train line.

"Initially, only five residents occupied Koang. Gradually, until 2010, the plot was almost full. There are only a few plots that have not yet been occupied because the tempeh makers still produce in Kober," Pepep said.

Koang Jaya RT 003 RW 002 chairman Mahdi, 53, said that of 60 families in RT 003, 33 families were tempeh makers.

Behavior

In the early days of living in Koang Jaya, the tempeh makers still used the production methods handed down from generation to generation.

The change in the face of Koang Jaya was only seen after Achmad Fauzan, 25, a young man in the neighborhood, intended to make Koang Jaya into a tempeh village. "I asked tempeh workers and residents to make the village into an innovative one by forming a thematic village, a Tempeh Village."

The changes started from the physical arrangement of the village so that it did not look dirty and slum-like. The Tangerang City administration then also trained the tempeh workers.

Fauzan said the changes continued, including increasing the capacity of the tempeh makers. In the future, he said he hoped the tempeh production would increase. Processed tempeh and soybeans also need to be propagated. Likewise, the marketing still needs to be expanded. That way, the people’s income is expected to increase and the Tempe Village will shine even more.