Economic crisis affects Tanah Abang vendors this Idul Fitri

By Juliane Gunardono

JAKARTA (JP): The notorious traffic jams in the Tanah Abang area of Central Jakarta have gotten worse recently. Near the Tanah Abang market, cars, buses and mikrolet (mini-vans) crawl at a snail's pace if they are lucky enough to be moving at all.

The vehicles must share the road with pedestrians and sidewalk vendors who spill off into the street itself. Making your way through the crowds is an arduous and sometimes impossible task because vendors have set up shop on about seven meters of one side of the street and three more meters on the other side, selling all types of food, clothes and toys. Any vehicles must squeeze through a narrow opening in the middle of this mass.

The heat of the crowded market, the din of people and cars, the smell of trash and food all combine to make the air thick.

With Idul Fitri, the end of Ramadhan celebration when Muslims buy food for gatherings and new clothes for the family, only less than two weeks away, the market seemed to bustle with activity. Vendors, however, say business is slack.

A closer look at the crowd shows that most people in the market only walk down the middle of the road, weaving between buses and cars, merely taking quick glances at the vendors' wares. During the present economic crisis, the typical customer will take a serious look at the clothes, ask the price and, after having heard the price, leave with an even more serious expression on his or her face.

"Most of the people only have a look, they don't buy anything," complains Erwin, who sells children's clothes.

Erwin usually sits all alone in the middle of his pile of children's dresses from between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m., quoting prices but rarely making a sale.

"I don't want to buy anything today," said Ahyar, a mother of three. "I just compare the prices and then go home and think about whether or not I have enough money."

Before the crisis, Ahyar used to buy her family new clothes for Idul Fitri in Ramayana. However, this year there will not be a new dress for her or a new shirt for her husband, but there will be new clothes for her children. Clothes cost about Rp 30,000 per item at Tanah Abang market. "I only have about Rp 100,000," she sighed.

Erwin has adapted to the new trend of only buying clothes for the children, selling only children's clothes for the first time since he began selling clothes at the market 10 years ago. In spite of this, his turnover has decreased from Rp 1 million daily in 1997 before the crisis, to Rp 700,000 in 1998 and now he only earns Rp 300,000.

The situation is even worse for Erman, who has sold women's shoes at Tanah Abang market for 20 years. He feels like he never has customers anymore, even though he has raised the prices of his shoes "only" 40 percent since the crisis started. He said he now only sells five to 10 pairs of shoes a day, compared to 60 pairs before the crisis. His shop is one of the most deserted places in the market, and this year there will not be any Idul Fitri presents for his wife and two children.

"They'll have to understand," he said sadly.

The vendors whose businesses seemed to be flourishing were those selling secondhand clothes. In one such establishment, secondhand shirts, trousers and dresses, for men and women and children were available. Eleven salespeople had been hired to serve hundreds of customers a day.

"And every day the shop is getting busier," Kesi, one of the attendants, said.

Clothes here cost as little as Rp 1,000. This means that almost everyone can afford to buy clothes for their families here, despite the economic crisis. Although the shop takes in between Rp 1 million and Rp 2 million a day, Kesi was often told by other shop attendants about the "good old days" when the store made "millions" a day.

Even Samsun, who himself is a clothes vendor, bought used clothes at the shop for his child. "Before the crisis I used to buy lots of new clothes for my wife and my children for Idul Fitri. And I bought them in a nice shop," he said.

This year, however, he cannot afford new clothes. "I looked. I asked for the prices, I bargained, and still I could not buy what I wanted. My only choice is to buy these secondhand clothes."

Paryono, a vendor of peci (traditional hats), affirmed the trend at this year's market. "People are buying lower quality for more money," he said.

He admitted that the hats he is selling this year are not as high quality as those of previous years, even though they cost more. "But the prices for quality things are too high for anybody to afford now."

Tanah Abang is full of vendors selling various goods. It is also full of people who want to buy this merchandise for their Idul Fitri celebrations. However, because of the economic crisis, the buyers and sellers are not doing much business. Even though the market is full, the pockets are empty.