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.