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.