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