A day with a food hawker catering to college students

A day with a food hawker catering to college students

Two years ago, after he had just turned 17, Trimulyanto had to
give up his studies at a state-owned high school in Sukoharjo
regency, Central Java, because his 57-year-old father could no
longer afford the school fees. Although he never completed his
studies, he cannot stay away from school. Now he sells food and
beverages to university students and pedicab drivers from his
small pushcart known as a warung angkringan along Jl. Prof.
Herman Yohannes, about a kilometer from the Gadjah Mada
University campus. He spoke with The Jakarta Post's Asip A.
Hasani.

YOGYAKARTA (JP): "I get up at 8 a.m. in a room where me and
five other angkringan sellers sleep every day. The 10-square-
meter room belongs to our boss who provides us with all of the
stuff we sell. Our boss has five rooms and each of us has to pay
Rp 1,000 a day to sleep there. Most of the sellers rent a room
from him since most of us come from outside of Yogyakarta. I come
from Karangasem village in Klaten regency, which is about 30
kilometers to the east of Yogyakarta.

After taking a bath and having breakfast, I usually wash my
two-wheeled cart and the three big kettles which I use to boil
drinking water. Then I prepare my cart by loading it with various
foods. Me and the other sellers have no choice but to buy the
food and sugar, tea, coffee and rice from our boss. At around 11
a.m., I set up my small charcoal stove, putting it on the lower
shelf of my cart to boil water. It takes time though to boil.

When the water is boiling at about 2 p.m., I am ready to leave
for Jl. Prof. Herman Yohannes, where I set up my cart every day.
To get there, I have to push it about a kilometer from the place
I stay. It is a hard job, especially with lots of food and three
kettles full of water on it. But I am getting used to it. Several
times I have lost my balance when pushing the cart on the street.
It is dangerous because there is boiling water on it.

At around 3 p.m., after covering my cart with blue plastic to
protect me, my customers and also my food from the heat and rain,
I am ready for business.

Most of my customers are university students who live near the
location of my cart. I think they like buying food from me
because of the low prices. I sell wrapped rice with fried tempeh
and chili with dried anchovies for Rp 350 each. I buy the wrapped
rice from my boss for Rp 300 each. Most of my customers usually
buy wrapped rice with a glass of hot tea or hot orange drink. But
several of them, who are very hungry, will eat up to three
wrapped rices each. All of my customers only have to spend around
Rp 1,500 for lunch or dinner.

Not all of the students living near the place where my cart is
located buy food from me. Some of them buy from other sellers,
such as one who is located only 150 meters away from me or two
others about 500 meters to the north. But my customers are not
only students, but also pedicab drivers and other people who pass
along the street and want to have modest or cheap meals.

Every day, I usually sell between 40 and 60 wrapped rices.
Sometimes, they are sold out at midnight, but there are times
when they are all gone only by 3 a.m. I close down depending on
the time when all my food is sold. Before leaving my site, I
usually sweep it clean.

I make a profit of about Rp 10,000 per day. I manage to save
about 50 percent of it and use the rest to buy cigarettes and my
breakfast. My father said that someday I will be able to buy a
cow with my savings. A little cow costs about Rp 3 million. I
don't know how much money I've saved from my job because it is
kept by my father.

Earlier, I did not agree with my father's plan for me to save
my money. Last year, I still wanted to continue my studies. But
now, after spending two years in this job, my desire to study is
almost gone. But maybe this is my destiny from God as a poor
person, just like my elder brother, who does the same job as me,
or my father, who is a pedicab driver. Both my brother and my
father can support their families. My brother is married and has
a child, while my sister got married last year to a construction
worker.

But I still have one hope left. Someday I wish to leave this
job and work as an auto repairman in a service center.