'Alang-alang' children scrape by on the docks

BATANG, Central Java (JP): The fish auction center at Batang Port swarms every morning with brokers and, during holidays, with women customers looking for bargains.

Hardly noticed among the throng are groups of boys, nearly all of them under the age of 12, who have made the dock their second home. Carrying black plastic bags, they keep an eye out for the boats mooring at the dock about 50 meters from the auction center.

They are part of the port scenery and are known as bocah alang-alang, a term which means the kids who look for fish that fall to the ground when the fishermen pack their catch in plastic crates ready to be carried to the center.

The kids run after the fishermen who are lugging around full crates, hoping to pick up some fish which, if they are lucky, drops to the ground. If they are more desperate, they may even try to grab fish from the crates. Sometimes, they have to struggle among themselves for the fish and fights are commonplace.

Those caught taking fish from the crates are driven away with hand gestures but not scolded or beaten. Seconds later, sure enough, they return. It happens over-and-over again, like a choreographed routine.

Some of the hired fishermen collude with the children by purposely dropping the fish that will fetch high prices at market. After collecting sizable quantities, it is sold and the profit shared equally.

Small-scale brokers, mostly old women, usually buy the fish for sale in surrounding towns.

The boys come from several nearby villages like Seturi (Karangasem) and Klidang (Klidang Lor). They are generally fishermen's children and school dropouts who need to make money to support themselves and their families.

Every day, from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m., they can make from Rp 5,000 to Rp 10,000, a tidy sum and too tempting for them to resist avoiding a day in the classroom. But some of them claim they still go to school.

Nardi, 12, said he was in sixth grade at elementary school and only visited the port during school vacations and holidays.

"I never play hooky, my dad would be mad at me," asserted the boy from Seturi.

He said his father also warned him against stealing any of the fish and only to take what falls out of the buckets. He earns from Rp 6,000 to Rp 8,000 daily which he said went toward school expenses.

"I do it just to continue my studies and help relieve my dad of his financial responsibilities," he said.

Another of the boys, Agus of Klidang, said he did not think about the ethics of right and wrong in what he was doing to eke out a living.

Small and dark skinned, the boy said, "I've got to snatch fish from fisherman or middlemen if none is dropped. I have to be careful that they're not paying attention though."

Agus' father is a fisherman and he only sees him about twice a month, a common problem for fishing families, in which the children are often neglected and have to live in harsh conditions.

Most of the young here only speak coarse Javanese, unable to converse in the more refined language which would help them in getting ahead in life. They appear restless and excitable, given to sudden fits of emotion in their tough daily lives.

But most of them will go on to become fishermen like their fathers, believing that it's better to make a great deal in one profitable catch than working at other menial jobs with erratic earnings.

It has been a cycle of toil and trouble for many generations, with children forgoing school and being destined to live the hard lives of their parents. It's time to educate residents of fishing villages about the importance of education for their children.

Of course, this measure will only work if there are schools where the kids can study. The local administration needs to build elementary schools near the fish center so there will be no problems about transportation to the sites. In this way, the local children and their parents will know there is more to life than scraping by. (Ahmad Solikhan)