For Bawean people, pursuit of ringgit outweighs school

For Bawean people, pursuit of ringgit outweighs school

As part of efforts to improve their livelihood, many Bawean
people have left to neighboring countries like Malaysia and
Singapore in order to find work. The Jakarta Post's Indra
Harsaputra recently went to Bawean and its surrounding islands,
including Gili Island, in order to look into how the phenomenon
has affected the lives of the people of Bawean.

"Our life is just to migrate to Malaysia to seek the ringgit,"
several residents on East Gili, a small island with around 650
inhabitants located about 30 kilometers from Bawean island, told
The Jakarta Post in a food stall in Sigedung Batu village,
Sangkapura district.

The stall owner, Jamalia, 30, said that most of the residents
on Gili island had only finished elementary school. Little is to
be expected from education because there are only two elementary
schools on Gili.

Even if there was more emphasis, for those who want to
continue their studies to a higher level must travel to Bawean
island. However, the number is very small as they prefer to
migrate to Malaysia in search of work as domestic servants or
menial laborers upon reaching adulthood.

"We are less eager to continue to a higher level of education
due to the distance it takes to reach schools in Bawean," said
Jamalia, who formerly worked in a store selling clothes in Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia. She now owns a stall selling light snacks.

Another resident, Zubaidah, 16, concurred, saying that
education was not her main priority in life, because working in a
foreign country has always been her hope. Zubaidah is now helping
her mother out in a food stall and earns less than Rp 200,000
(US$20.00) per month.

"I will immediately become a migrant worker five years from
now. Many people have been successful working in another country,
earning more, rather than becoming a fisherman or working on Gili
island," she told the Post on Friday.

Zubaidah has only completed elementary school. She initially
intended to continue her studies, but her parents discouraged her
from going far away from home just to pursue an education.

Zubaidah's father works in Malaysia and saves the equivalent
of Rp 3 million per month. He sends home the money through the
services of a tekong (messenger) in Malaysia to supplement the
family's economic needs.

They use part of the money to buy gold jewelry as a way of
saving, because they are still unfamiliar with banking services.

Many people on Gili island have migrated to Malaysia to work
over the last 25 years. They prefer to become migrant workers
rather than go to another place to pursue their education, thus
Gili island is known as an "exporter" of Indonesian migrant
workers (TKI).

The average minimum salary of migrant workers from Gili island
is RM 600 per month (approximately equivalent to Rp 1.65
million). Most of the islanders have opted to become migrant
workers due to the higher pay in Malaysia compared to working as
a fisherman on Gili, and usually earning less than Rp 500,000 per
month.

"Don't be surprised if the island has two telecommunications
kiosks (wartel) used by residents to call their relatives in
Malaysia," said Busai'ri, village chief of Sigedung Batu.

He said that even though the island is remote, many of its
residents could afford to pay electric bills of up to Rp 500,000
per month.

Some of them own television sets, parabola antennas and
refrigerators. However, they are less inclined to pursue
education away from the island.

Busai'ri hopes the government can pay more attention to the
education problem and build a high school and a junior high
school.

"The availability of education would be able to enhance their
knowledge, so they don't get easily duped by recruitment agents
in Malaysia," said Busai'ri.

Head of the Sangkapura District Education and Culture branch
office, Zulfa Usman, said that education had become the main
problem on Bawean and Gili islands. Residents are less aware of
the importance of education. Besides that, parents often have
difficulties when registering their children for school due to
the lack of birth certificates.

"Many of the children here were born in Malaysia, and when
they register in school, they have to arrange for their birth
certificates to be sent from Malaysia. It's inconceivable for
them to go to Malaysia just to get their documents," said Zulfa.