C. Javanese fight poverty

C. Javanese fight poverty

By Ahmad Solikhan

YOGYAKARTA (JP): These days you do not have to spend a lot of
money to collect vintage vehicles. "Antique" vehicles are
available at reasonable prices, which is not surprising at all
because they made of wood are only decorative.

Inoe Handicraft, a small business located in Klaten, Central
Java, produces antique objects like Harley Davidson motorcycles,
Volkswagen Beetles, limousines, horse-drawn carriages and sailing
boats.

Wood serves as the raw material to create the handicrafts.
Equipment such as lathes, saws, grinders, files, sandpaper and
planes are used in the production process.

The handicrafts can be bought at tourist sites like Prambanan
temple, Borobudur temple and along Jl. Malioboro in Yogyakarta.
Marketing has extended to Jepara, Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya,
Denpasar, Medan and Samarinda. They are even exported to Spain,
Australia, the U.S. and the Middle East. Tourists also often go
to handicraft centers to buy the products.

Before the monetary crisis, domestic sales were equal to the
export turnover, i.e. 1,250 pieces each per month. But since
1998, the export demand has increased by more than 100 percent
while domestic demand has decreased 50 percent.

According to Ibnu Aji, 27, owner of Inoe Handicraft, it all
started after he began to worry about being unemployed upon
graduation from a private economics college in Yogyakarta. In
mid-1994, a year before his graduation, Aji suddenly got an idea
to make a wooden miniature replica of a Harley Davidson
motorcycle.

"I felt very lucky to have earned money as a student. The
worry I felt has now abated somewhat," said Aji proudly.

The idea was born from witnessing the fanaticism of many young
men with regard to Harley Davidson motorcycles. Posters,
calendars, stickers, caps and T-shirts with pictures of Harley
Davidsons and vintage automobiles sold tremendously well.

Aji then made designs of Harley Davidsons, 35 cm in length and
25 cm in height. He used teakwood cut-offs and simple tools. He
could make three or four pieces a week.

Aji sold his products along Jl. Malioboro at Rp 27,500 a
piece. The articles attracted the interest of young people and he
had to work hard to meet the increased market demand. After a
year his business was showing better prospects and yielding a
sufficient profit.

Aji was worried not only about himself. He thought of the many
unemployed people around him who had only finished grade school
and had no skills.

So after he graduated in 1995, with a capital of only Rp
450,000 he took the risk of setting up a handicraft workshop and
hired people from the community.

Now Inoe Handicraft has 45 workers, with 23 of them regulars
and the remaining 22 on a contract basis. For Aji, the skills of
each individual are more important than expertise. Even those who
never went to school can work for him.

Aji pays his workers between Rp 130,000 and Rp 500,000 a month
in accordance with their skills. "To become an expert one needs
to have worked three months at least," said Aji, a father of one.

One of the workers Widianto, 21, said he had worked for Aji
for less than a month and so had not yet received any pay. At the
end of the month he will receive Rp 130,000. After a three-month
training period, he will be employed on a permanent basis if his
skills have developed enough.

"I work here to gain knowledge and to collect capital.
Nowadays it is very hard to find work without having expertise.
If I have acquired some skill, I will start something on my own
in order to be more independent," said Widianto, a high school
graduate.

Now Inoe Handicraft's production is not limited to Harley
Davidson motorcycles. It has extended its production line with
other vintage vehicles also measuring an average 35 cm long and
25 cm high. The raw material is teakwood, mahogany and sono wood
in the form of logs ordered from Blora, Wonosobo and Gunungkidul.
Their prices vary. Teakwood is the most expensive at Rp 2.5
million per cubic meter. Mahogany and sono wood cost respectively
Rp 450,000 and Rp 350,000 per cubic meter. "I buy logs because I
am trying to develop and meet the rising demand of the market,"
Aji said.

The logs are sawn into pieces of three centimeter thickness.
The pieces are then shaved with a plane and shaped according to
patterns. Holes for drilling are shown on the patterns. The
surface of the wood is smoothened by a grindstone and rubbed with
sandpaper.

The pieces of wood are glued one by one according to the
pattern. Varnish is applied to give a shine to the wood surface.
Drying takes about one hour. "One cubic meter of wood yields
about 250 handicrafts," said Aji.

The prices of the products start from Rp 5,000 for a Beetle. A
Harley Davidson costs between Rp 9,000 and Rp 80,000.

The prices depend on the complexity of the woodwork and the
type of wood. "If the raw material is teakwood and the work is
intricate, the price will automatically be substantially higher,"
Aji explained.

Aji's activities are a catalyst for other wood workers to meet
the demands of the international market. Similar handicraft
businesses have appeared in the regions of Bantul and Kulonprogo
in Yogyakarta province, which is a positive development in
reducing the level of unemployment. Especially as there is
concern on the part of the regional administration to aid the
development of small businesses.

As for Aji, increased market demand has overwhelmed the
business, which has a working capital of only Rp 70 million. Aji
himself needs funds to expand the business and provide jobs for
more people.

Unfortunately, he feels that there is lack of concern from the
Klaten regional government to help develop small businesses in
the area. He is aware that the government has established the
social safety network to combat poverty and that he believes that
small-scale businesses deserve the funds as they help reduce
unemployment. "But I have never requested funds from the regional
administration because a lot of aid has no clear target," said
Aji.

He has noticed a better situation in Yogyakarta, where there
is more attention to its poor citizens in the development of the
small-scale handicraft industry. Therefore Aji is planning to
develop his business there.