Between SBY and Pak Salman February 2, 2008
Posted by mbak rita in indonesiana.trackback
Yesterday President SBY went to Karawang, West Java, to talk with farmers to gather first hand information on agriculture in the area. The way he conducted the meeting reminds me to his former boss, the late President Soeharto with his trademark “klompencapir” farmer show. On his way home, Pak SBY got trapped in Jakarta seasonal flood where his car had an engine trouble that forced the president evacuated to another car. Ahhhh…poor Pak SBY, let me help you a little, Pak :).
You don’t have to go far to Karawang (actually it is not even “really’ far, only two hours driving from Jakarta) if you only wanted to know how hard our life today under your government! Meet Pak Salman, he walks every morning from subuh (dawn) carrying plastic ware (well, he is definitely not a Tupperware salesman), for hours. He “borrowed” those stuff from a small retailer in Bekasi, West Java (about an hour driving from Jakarta) and got only around two thousand Rupiah for every piece he sold. The problem is, there are fewer buyers today. With big retailers like Carrefour popped up in almost every corner in Jakarta’s crossroads, people now tends to purchase stuff in air-conditioned-and- much-cheaper-big-stores, and simply leave their traditional seller far behind.
(I believe SBY’s aide will interrupt and yell something like; “Yea, good story but what does it HAVE TO DO WITH FARMERS?)
Oooh, yea, sorry for being carried away, you know, I love writing, and it tends to make my fingers dance with words and…ooh, yea, kembali ke laptop or back to the topic. About farmers, right?
Well, Honey, Pak Salman is used to be a farmer but forced to sell his tiny rice field simply to survive. He then started to work as door to door plastic ware seller eversince, “I did this for almost 30 years,” the 78 years old Pak Salman told me after I managed to buy a bucket (less than Rp.10.000 or equivalent to one US dollar) this morning. “I had a hope, once, that I will somehow manage to buy another land in Bekasi and being a farmer again but that dream never comes true, up to today. Even life is so much harder now; all of my son knows nothing about farming anymore. We are forced to learn a new skill to survive but it is not at all easy, “he added. Yes of course it is not easy for farmer’s family to live a life as non farmers, it will make them always left behind, getting more poor and neglected. And thanks to Pak SBY’s policy and the continuous disasters, it seems that we are going to have more Pak Salmans around. So sad, eh? Phew…..!
(with thanks to Pak Salman, who has an honest warm smile during conversation about his hard life. I do learn a lot from you, Pak Salman!)
Photos:
The flood interrupted Pak SBY’s heading home from his “klompencapir show”; by Pak Abror Rizky, the official photographer for the Jakarta’s palace, January 1, 2008.
Pak Salman ; by mbak rita, February 2, 2008
i saw this news..banjir bikin pak SBY pindah mobil..
how to tell with english language? wes ah bahasa indonesia ae yo mbak, mbah mumet, maklum generasi jadul terpencil pula hehehehehe
boleh dikata pemerintah adalah “pembunuh” profesi petani, kenapa saya bilang gitu? ya kebijakan-kebijakan instant yg membunuh bangsa sendiri. membuka kran import dengan kebijaksanaan bebas bea macam2 dan menunjuk “makelar kapitalis” untuk mengatasi kelangkaan bahan pangan. Kenapa gak petani nya aja sih yg dibantu? kasih intensip ato subsidi lah biar hasil panennya bertambah.
mumet kepala saya mbak lihat pemerintah kita, ana-ana wae kebijaksanaan anehnya hehehehehe
Cak Andi Cempluk, thanks for stopping by. Iyo Cak, mesakake yo presiden kita didemo banjir
Inggih Mbah Sangkil, sumonggo kerso mawon Mbah
BTW I agree with panjenengan Mbah, ini efek domino dan puanjang dari kebijakan ekonomi margin laba yang berkuasa sejak jaman orba, dimana para pengambil keputusan cuman ngeliat laba (dan upeti para importir, termasuk impor beras yang jadi lumbung duitnya golkar) dan gak mau susah payah berproses menjadikan petani indonesia (sadly kita ini kan negara agraris!) menjadi petani yang lebih empowered. Yang ada, di negara agraris ini malah petani jadi profesi yang “sudra” dan selalu terpinggirkan. Sedih banget emang!