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.