A day with a satay vendor from Madura
A day with a satay vendor from Madura
Muhamad Sukur, 47, has been selling chicken satay for about 20
years. He was born in Bangkalan, Madura island, East Java, and
now lives in Petamburan, Central Jakarta, with his wife Munayah
and their four sons. He spoke with The Jakarta Post's Ida
Indawati Khouw.
JAKARTA (JP): For me life means preparing and selling chicken
satay.
I wake up at 4:30 a.m. to say my morning prayer. I usually
have about three hours to relax in the morning, during which time
I have some canned milk and smoke some cigarettes. I actually
love coffee but the doctor told me not to drink it because I have
stomach problems.
My breakfast is accompanied by kasidah (a religious chant
usually in Arabic sung to the rhythm of gambus music) and a
religious sermon I play on my tape recorder.
At 8 a.m. I go to Tanah Abang market (in Central Jakarta) to
buy three or four live young chickens and other needs. They cost
me about Rp 200,000. Before the economic crisis I usually bought
five chickens.
I clean the chickens and make the satay myself. Almost all of
the chicken parts can be used for the satay; I can even sell the
heads and bones for Rp 700 per chicken to a mie ayam (chicken
noodle) vendor who will chop it up and cook it.
I don't know how the peanut sauce for the satay is prepared as
this is done by my wife.
After all of the satay is prepared, I have time to take a nap
until 3 p.m. before taking the satay to my "base" in nearby
Palmerah, Central Jakarta, which I have occupied for 20 years.
I actually had no experience selling satay when I lived in
Bangkalan, though most people associate Madurese with satay
vendors. I was a cigarette vendor when I was in Bangkalan.
I came to Jakarta to seek my fortune in the early 1980s, after
seeing some of my friends become successful here. I first learned
how to make satay from my brother-in-law, who is also a food
vendor.
I do not remember the amount of financial capital I needed to
start the business because my in-laws help me a lot during the
start-up.
For instance, it was my father-in-law who made the cart I use
to sell the food, so it was cheaper.
And I was not wrong in getting into the business, especially
after I found a good location near the Kompas newspaper office.
My satay sells well almost every day.
I found that dealing with this job was quite difficult in the
beginning, especially when I had to manually fan the satay during
the cooking process because it made my arms stiff and sore. But
it's not a problem now.
I know that other vendors tend to fan the satay with electric
fans, but I don't do this because it affects the taste.
Don't ask me how much money I make in a day, because I never
count it; I just give it all to my wife. She counts the money and
manages the finances for our family.
What I do know is that I sell the satay for Rp 3,000 per
portion, but if it is served with lontong (rice steamed in a
banana leaf) the price is Rp 3,500.
I think my wife is smart enough to manage our money, because
we are able to take part in the traditional annual exodus (to
Madura) during Idul Fitri every year.
Thank God my oldest son has his own kiosk selling sop buntut
at Tanah Abang market, so he can help with the family finances. I
still have to pay the school fees for my other three sons. My
second oldest son is a student at a technical high school, while
the other two are in junior high school.
My satay is usually sold out by 10 p.m., but if I have some
left my family finishes it at our small house in Petamburan,
Central Jakarta, which I rent for Rp 1.1 million per year.
This doesn't mean that I can start relaxing as soon as I get
home, because I have to cut palm leaf ribs to make sticks for the
satay.
After everything is finished I go to bed at 1 a.m.