A desperate plea for help from East Java<\/p>\n
By Santo Koesoebjono<\/p>\n
WASSENAAR, the Netherlands (JP): The phone rang at my home in
\nHolland. It was midnight here, or 5 a.m. in Indonesia. I picked
\nit up and heard a woman's voice. She told me her name was Wati
\nand that I did not know her. With an emotional and tensed voice
\nshe told me her story.<\/p>\n
\"Bapak, I am calling you from Nganjuk (East Java). I got your
\nname, address and phone number from a magazine in which you
\nwrote. Bapak, can you please help me find a job in Holland? The
\nfactory has fired me and now I have no job. I have a high school
\ndiploma. I used to work in a factory as a tailor. My husband
\nworked as a driver at another company. He also has lost his job.
\nWe have a five-year-old daughter. We are poor and desperate. Can
\nyou find me a job in Holland? I am now living with my sister, a
\nschool teacher, trying to find a job here.\" I explained to her
\nthat finding employment in Holland was not easy since one needs
\nto have a diploma in a special skill or expertise. Unemployment
\namong unskilled laborers is high.<\/p>\n
\"Can I come there and find work by myself then?\" asked Wati.
\nThe chance of a foreigner getting a job is very slim, I told her.
\nTo enter Holland alone is difficult enough, especially for people
\nfrom outside Europe. I can imagine how hard it would be for this
\nwoman to understand that a rich country like Holland does not
\nhave jobs, especially for people with her qualifications.<\/p>\n
Wati continued: \"I am also trying to apply to work as a
\ndomestic helper in other countries, as a TKW (female worker
\nabroad), but the cost to apply to the Ministry of Manpower is
\nvery high. I can't afford it.\" I said that working as a TKW
\noffered the opportunity to earn a higher salary and was therefore
\nattractive.<\/p>\n
However, I also warned her of the possibility of maltreatment
\nand harassment she could encounter working in foreign countries.
\nMany stories have been published in the media about the
\nmaltreatment Indonesian workers received during their stay in
\nforeign countries. It is true that there are also success stories
\ntold by the lucky ones, but one should not neglect the risks and
\ndangers. I am not sure if she heard my warning as she was so
\neager to get support and a job.<\/p>\n
After talking for about 10 minutes I suggested we end the
\nconversation because it would cost her a fortune. Wati repeated:
\n\"Bapak, please help me. I feel better having talked with you
\nrather than writing a letter. It makes me feel closer to you. But
\nI will write a letter and send you my resume. Please respond to
\nmy letter. Promise me, Pak.\"<\/p>\n
I gave her my promise. We ended the phone conversation. But I
\ncould not go back to sleep, thinking about this matter and
\nwondering how many more phone calls I would get from people like
\nWati, who have read my name and address in the magazine. I also
\nwondered if Wati was telling me the truth or if it was a fake
\nstory.<\/p>\n
Ten days after the phone call I received a letter from Wati.
\nShe has neat and clear handwriting. Attached to the letter were
\ncopies of her and her sister's identity cards. The content of the
\nletter was the same as the story she told me on the phone. She
\nadded her resume and a brief description of her family
\nbackground. Wati is 31 and a third child of six. Her mother sells
\njamu (traditional herbs) and incense.<\/p>\n
After being laid off by his company, her husband left her to
\ngo back to his family in Sukabumi, West Java, and has stopped
\nsupporting his wife and daughter. To support the extended family,
\nWati and her sister borrowed money from a rentenir (loan shark),
\nwho lends money at a very high interest rate. Now the family is
\ncaught in a web of debt. Wati has worked at a number of factories
\nand the last factory went bankrupt. The letter closes with \"I
\nhope you will listen to my cry for help.\" I immediately sent her
\nmy reply and sent her some funds to help her restart her
\nprofession as a tailor.<\/p>\n
This cry for help indicates how bad the economic crisis has
\naffected a certain group of people. They have lost their jobs,
\nare unable to feed their families and are forced to stop their
\nchildren's education. It is hard for people holding a high school
\ndiploma only, like Wati, to find employment in Indonesia.
\nThousands of people share Wati's problem.<\/p>\n
Despite the indications that the economy is recovering, people
\nlike Wati will have to wait for years before they can enjoy a
\nbetter living. Many economists and analysts predict the economic
\ncrisis affecting all important aspects of life like health,
\nnutrition and education, will continue to go up and down for the
\ncoming few decades.<\/p>\n
The phone call from Wati also shows another side of the
\nproblem faced by the country. It shows the dichotomy in society.
\nTo the rich, the present economic situation has merely forced
\nthem to change their lifestyles and made them worry about their
\nsavings in Indonesian banks. This group can still afford to
\ncontinue traveling to Europe and America for a holiday or to go
\nshopping or send their children to university.<\/p>\n
A larger group of people, however, can barely stay alive,
\ntheir health is deteriorating and their children's education is
\ncut short. Many middle-class families are also suffering from
\nthis crisis and have been forced to sell their houses and other
\nproperty.<\/p>\n
At present, the number of people living below the poverty line
\nhas reached 49.5 million or 24.2 percent of the entire Indonesian
\npopulation, according to Sugito Suwito, director of the Central
\nBureau of Statistics. The country's economy is still suffering.
\nAlthough there are some indications of improvement, the economy
\nhas not reached sustainable recovery according to economist
\nSoemitro in an interview with Republika daily (July 26, 1999).<\/p>\n
In this situation people like Wati make an easy target to be
\npersuaded to take hard, dangerous but low paid jobs. They can
\neasily be persuaded to seek jobs overseas, legally or illegally,
\nwith the help of mediators who very often are crooks.<\/p>\n
Many times we read and hear of horrifying stories about
\nIndonesian men and women working in foreign countries. Recently
\nthe employer of a woman working in an Arab country poured acid on
\nher. Other women commit suicide or are sentenced to death.
\nMaltreatment is also found among workers in Malaysia and
\nSingapore.<\/p>\n
Despite these painful experiences, labor migration keeps
\nflowing from Indonesia to six countries in the Middle East and to
\nother countries. According to the Association of Labor Export
\nCompanies (Apjati) the number of labor migrants from Indonesia
\nincreased to 411,000 in 1998. Joining the labor migration are
\npeople from professional and skilled groups, such as pilots,
\ntechnicians and health professionals. Nurses are sent not only to
\nthe Middle East but also to industrialized countries including
\nHolland.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is not the only country sending out its people for
\nemployment. Other countries in Asia do the same thing. The strong
\nflow of workers reflects the problems of employment in the home
\ncountry. As said by Minister of Manpower Fahmi Idris, employment
\nopportunities in Indonesia are becoming fewer and fewer.<\/p>\n
One seeks employment overseas with the hope of getting a
\nbetter salary than in his or her home country. This money can
\nthen be used to support the family back home, to send the
\nchildren to school or to buy a piece of land. These motivations
\nare humane and understandable. I respect this woman Wati for her
\ncourage and effort to find a job from such a long distance.<\/p>\n
The writer is an economist and demographer residing in the
\nNetherlands.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/a-desperate-plea-for-help-from-east-java-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}