A day with a train signalman
A day with a train signalman
Surip, 43, is a signalman with PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI). He
has been with KAI for 17 years and is stationed at Pos Kereta Api
3, Jl. Latuharhari in Menteng, Central Jakarta. Born in the
village of Kebumen, Central Java, he lives in a company house in
Menteng, Central Jakarta, with his wife, Sumiyati, and
three-year-old son, Dimas. He spoke to The Jakarta Post's William
Furney.
JAKARTA (JP): I'm lucky that I don't have to go very far to
get to work. My house is directly across the railway tracks from
my post. So, it takes me about five seconds to get there. It's
just as well as I'm on duty at 6 a.m. Because I'm Muslim, I wake
up at 4 a.m., wash and say the morning prayer. Then I have some
rice and vegetables for breakfast, which Sumiyati cooks for me.
There are 37 trains passing through during the day and I'm
responsible for lowering the gates before they arrive. There's
often a lot of traffic crossing and it can be stressful trying to
lower the gates. But when I sound the alarm, they usually stop.
About six months ago, KAI installed an electric system in the
office. So, now, all I have to do is press some buttons. Before
that, I had to manually lower the gates. It's much easier now.
Sometimes, though, there's a fault with the system and I have to
go out and winch down the gates. But that's not very often. In
all the years I've been working here, there's never been an
accident. The gates always come down and the trains pass through.
I coordinate with the stations in Manggarai, South Jakarta, and
Tanah Abang as there's usually more than the scheduled trains
passing: trains that are going in for repair or engines going to
stations.
Before I was a signal master, I worked at the district office
in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta. Now, there are four people
working at this post and we work in shifts. The others live in
rented houses nearby.
There are many people who live on the sides of the tracks
here. Even though my post is small, they're allowed to come in
and use the bathroom. They usually pay about Rp 500; it's not a
charge as such; the money is used for repairs when needed. These
people are from outside of Jakarta and haven't been able to find
any work. So most of them are scavengers; they go around looking
for anything of value in rubbish dumps and try to sell what they
find.
I earn Rp 650,000 per month. I forget how much I got when I
started working with KAI. I think it was about Rp 100,000. Every
two years, I get an increase in salary, but it's not much and my
salary is not enough at all. The cost of food and clothes has
gone up a lot, and it's getting more difficult to survive on my
salary. Things are just so expensive. But I'm not complaining, I
like my work.
I don't pay for the house, it's free from KAI. It's very
small, just a bedroom and a small kitchen out front. It's very
basic, and not like the houses in the kampongs outside Jakarta.
But it's OK for now. Sumiyati cooks food every morning and sells
it to the homeless outside. She only makes a small amount of
money from it though.
I finish working at 2 p.m. and relax for the afternoon. I work
every day of the week, except for Monday, when I'm off. I like to
go around and about then. If I have money, we'll go to the market
and buy some things. Or we'll go to somewhere like Monas.
Sometimes we walk there, other times we take the bus. When we get
there, we'll play football or just walk around.
We have a TV in the house and I like watching dangdut shows. I
don't like current affairs at all. Politics is boring, and I
never follow it.
Sumiyati has three sisters living abroad: two in America and
one in Germany. They met Westerners here and left with them. She
says they did it for the money and for a better life. They're
very good in that they send money back to their parents.
Sometimes, I wonder if Sumiyati would have liked to have done the
same too, but I think she's happy here with me.
I'll work as a signal master until I get my pension, when I'm
55. Then, we'll return to my village. I don't have a house there
yet, buy my parents are still alive and they have a house in the
village. It's much nicer to live in a village outside Jakarta.
Dimas is our only child; I don't know if we'll have another,
it's up to God. Although Islam is my religion, I believe all
religions are the same. I've equal respect for Christians,
Hindus, Protestants and the others. We're all the same, after the
same. I've no time for fanatic Muslims.
I'll go to sleep when I feel sleepy, usually about 9 p.m. I
love to dream beautiful dreams, and I often dream about beautiful
women I wished were my girlfriends.