Joy and Sorrow amid Jakarta’s Glimmering Lights
Jakarta is one year older. Indonesia’s capital is now filled with skyscrapers that glimmer in the night. Beneath the sheen of the city’s economic growth, many Jakartans are in fear of losing their jobs. Still, many others are cheering for their fortunes in “Batavia”.
Marno, 26, busily put pieces of raw fish into hundreds of bubu (fish traps) on a boat. The bubu will be spread in the waters around the reclaimed land off Jakarta’s coast.
“There was no fish in the past four days. When there’s fish, it’s only three to four kilograms at best,” said the resident of neighborhood unit (RT) 012 in community unit (RW) 022, Pluit sub-district, Penjaringan, on Friday (21/6/2019).
Marno and hundreds of other fishermen on North Jakarta’s coast chose to keep fishing despite the uncertain haul. They have no education or skills to switch jobs. With only elementary school graduation certificates, the man from Serang, Banten, can only follow his father’s footsteps.
Despite life getting harsher, people in coastal regions refuse to give up. Edi, 62, a Jakartan who has switched jobs to poultry farming, said that he found it difficult to develop his business. Despite having 100 ducks, he had limited finances.
Once, he thought about getting a bank loan. However, he could not fulfill some of the requirements, including getting a business statement letter (SKU) from the sub-district office. “The sub-district office would not issue an SKU to me as we live on a green area. We have never received training or financial aid from the government,” he said.
Edi said that he hoped the Jakarta administration would pay more attention to people in coastal regions. They do not ask for much, other than access to business funding and entrepreneurship training.
In his fishing days in the past, Edi said that he saw the Jakarta Bay getting increasingly unhealthy and the sea becoming increasingly polluted by domestic waste. “We were even banned from fishing around Mutiara Beach. What are we going to do, when we have no skills and access to funding? The government should stop development at the sea. They should plan programs to restore the marine ecosystem,” Edi said.
At Muara Angke Harbor, beverage seller Arya, 29, was affected by the lack of tourists in the harbor area. In the past two years, his income has been decreasing as the coastal area’s popularity declines.
In the past, people came to the harbor every night just to fish or take selfies. They usually bought drinks and snacks from local peddlers. “At the time, I could get Rp 500,000 (US$35.38) a day. Now, even getting Rp 250,000 is difficult as we are only waiting for people crossing to the Thousand Islands. Many already bring snacks from home,” he said.
Unchanging
Not far from Arya, Tarmo, 60, was sitting on a motored fishing boat. The fisherman was going out to sea and was preparing his meals.
Tarmo and 27 other fishermen had been on the land for a week after being at sea for three months. They returned to land with a haul of 32 tons of various fish. This was far below the target of 70-80 tons of fish set by the boat’s owner.
“We get no salary as we apply a profit-sharing system. If we get the amount we got yesterday, we will not get anything,” said the man from Tegal, Central Java.
Tarmo first went to Jakarta in 1973. He has driven buses, trucks and bajaj (pedicab) for a livelihood. However, two years ago, he stopped driving bajaj as competition with ride-hailing services grew fiercer.
As a fisherman, Tarmo said that his life had not changed. The man with three children said that he felt he had fallen deeper into poverty.
Using opportunities
On the other hand, many others see Jakarta as a city of opportunities. “I like living in Jakarta as there are so many opportunities. Jakarta is a center of economy and government. The city has everything. Many big companies also have offices in Jakarta,” said Abi, a young entrepreneur and the director of PT Karpa Moda Inovasi.
Abi founded the IT service provider in early 2018. He said that he saw a growing number of companies realizing the importance of technology in advancing their businesses.
“Indonesians are becoming more open minded. Companies that never used technology are now beginning to use it,” said Abi, who obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business information system from the Hochschule Karlsruhe in Germany.
For him, starting his own business in Jakarta was not difficult. Assistance in administrative and licensing matters through public notaries is easy to find. “What’s important is that we have a well-organized concept and we are not afraid in executing it,” he said, adding that his company has three employees and cooperates with two corporate clients.
Hasan, who sells traditional ice dessert es cendol near the Haji Nawi MRT Station in South Jakarta, also said that there were many work opportunities in Jakarta. He moved from Tegal to Jakarta after he graduated from elementary school in the late 1990s. At the time, Hasan’s parent worked as a streetside seller with minimal income.
After working for seven years in Jakarta, Hasan asked his parents and siblings to go to Jakarta with him. He provided a cart for his parents so that they could sell es cendol as well.
“In Jakarta, you can do anything. You can sell food or beverages. Jakarta is a center of economy. You can set up businesses in Jakarta but you’ll get lower income. Success or failure depends on the person. What’s important is you want to work hard, you have skills and you know the city,” Hasan said.
Hasan now sells up to 50 glasses of es cendol at Rp 9,000 apiece per day.
Currently, he lives near Cipete Market in South Jakarta, with his wife and two children. His oldest will go to a kindergarten in the upcoming school year. The smaller one is one year old.