Finding a use for small, worthless coins

Finding a use for small, worthless coins

JAKARTA (JP): "Mommy, how come I never see one rupiah coins?" my little son asked while showing me his math book. His book was filled with arithmetic problems using examples with less-than-Rp 10 coins. In reality, the coins are antiquated.

In many supermarkets, for example, cashiers often give you candies instead of 75, 50 or 25 rupiah coins. Some cashiers argue that the candies are worth more than the small change you are waiting for. They don't find it funny, however, when you make up the change with sweets.

One day my son showed his pity for a beggar at a traffic light. He was surprised when the money, which he gave with all his heart because he was told by his teacher to help the needy, was thrown back into the car by the angry beggar. I tried to explain to him why his Rp 10 coin was worthless even to a beggar.

A similar experience happened to me on a city bus. Unfortunately, I realized I had left my bag at the office only after I was on the bus. I busily collected small change from the bottom of my bag. When I gave the bus conductor the exact fare from what I had found -- Rp 300 in 25 and 10 rupiah coins -- he insisted the coins were obsolete. He said he usually threw away the worthless money and he did not want to take them. It was a painful experience.

I wonder why we don't take pride in our money. Some people say it is all due to high inflation, others insist it's because the government issued the Rp 50,000 bill with smiling President Soeharto -- the Father of Development -- on the front. The bill creates the impression that the lesser bills have been made worthless by inflation. By issuing the large bills the government indirectly admitted that they could not control the inflation rate.

Coins are only considered precious on certain occasions in Indonesia. Indonesians wanting to get married need coins as a memento of the date of their wedding. These coins are usually given to the bride as a dowry. Coins are also used at funerals. They are mixed with rice and ground turmeric and thrown at the corner of the house of the deceased and street junctions to prevent bad luck.

Indonesians suffering from colds ask their spouses to rub coins covered in mint balm and coconut oil on their back until welts appear. This is a precious moment. This traditional healing method, called kerokan, is cheap -- no doctor bills and a use for the useless coins. Undergoing kerokan is a quick way to forget about inflation.

-- Nining I. Soesilo