Dry season's savage heat a blessing for Madurese

Dry season's savage heat a blessing for Madurese

Text and photos by Zoel Mistortoify

MADURA, East Java (JP): There is always a time to worry and
for the Madurese, it is the dry season, which reaches its peak
between August and October. For Madurese living in arid areas,
the dry season does not only cause water shortages but also
depresses the region's economy since the islanders depend on
agriculture.

But to those in Sumenep and Pamekasan in the eastern part of
the island, the season's savage heat is a blessing. For it is
during the peak of the dry season that they harvest their tobacco
crop.

Tobacco is the main crop in the dry season and the region's
most important export commodity. In the past years, the island's
15,000 hectares of tobacco plantations have yielded an annual
tobacco harvest of 8 million tons.

Tobacco cultivation was introduced into the archipelago by
Portuguese settlers at the end of the 16th century. During
British Governor Sir Stamford Raffles's rule, tobacco cultivation
was a favorite venture in Java because of the meteoric price this
commodity fetched.

Madura, a region dependent on Java, managed to secure a steady
market after the introduction of Virginia tobacco.

Thousands of Madurese were put to work in East Java tobacco
plantations, starting as forced laborers during colonial times
and later as contract workers. They later brought home the
cultivating and marketing skills acquired in Java and started to
develop their own plantations around the middle of the 19th
century.

Tobacco cultivation involves lots of manpower and in Madura it
is made possible by traditional working patterns; the family is
the main economic unit of production. Men, women, old and young
and even children are officially invited to the work on a
mutually-beneficial scheme known as jhak-ngajhak.

Although tobacco cultivation is a costly, labor-intensive and
risky business, it is profitable. The tobacco season (osom bako)
transforms life in East Madura. Because tobacco boosts the
economy, consumption also goes up. The tobacco season is a time
of social and economic change manifested in such public affairs
as wedding parties, construction, the setting up of businesses,
private or collective thanksgiving rites, and the acquisition of
goods considered important or prestigious.

This phenomenon breeds a hedonistic air evident in the scale
of the public festivities held during harvest time.

The East Madurese are still in the habit of holding social
gatherings known as arisan in the national language.

Called kompolan or kamrat in Madura, the gatherings are not
only held to raise funds; they are held also to keep strong the
bonds of friendship between certain communities.

There are different types of gathering, depending on who is
organizing it. For example, there is a group of race cow breeders
and a group of breeders of "beauty cows" called sape sono (cows
paraded at cow beauty contests). There are also gatherings of an
orthodox Moslem community united in Koran reading, martial arts
or the arts of hadrah (rebana music).

Traditional community groups unite to maintain traditions,
from religious recitals to worldly tayuban (sensuous dancing with
female dancers).

The spectacle is often exploited commercially and made into
public entertainment. Another habit in prosperous villages is the
purchase of goods such as gold jewelry, cars, household goods, or
livestock. Such goods are not really necessities, and some of
them are kept in storage. In times of need, they are sold.

The banking system is apparently not popular with the average
Madurese; gold remains the favorite way to store wealth, and this
is how families provide for the future.

People also express their joy in exuberant parties, taking
care to look sharp, and decked out in brand new jewelry.

The most eye-catching of all these is the gathering known as
kamrat sape sono. The party starts with participants delivering
parcels containing sugar, rice, fruit and money to their host.
This is done in a formal and theatrical way.

Then the groups of participants form an orderly procession in
a field. After the procession, every group loudly introduces
itself to the audience. The introductions are often exercises in
self-glorification.

Then comes the beauty contest for the cows. After each cow has
been paraded around, the owner's group will often show off by
draping the body of their jockey in bank notes, often hundred of
thousands of rupiah. This is simply their way of telling the
audience that they have plenty of cash. Often, however, it leads
to a contest of wealth, spoiling a pleasant atmosphere and making
it hostile.