Former long-distance runner takes on Jakarta's rat race
By Ivy Susanti
JAKARTA (JP): Martha Kase used to run for victory in her days as one of the country's top long-distance runners. Today, she runs a small food stall in the Senayan sports complex, the place where she once trained and competed.
Visitors to Senayan Stadium and the nearby tennis complex can meet Martha, the 1987 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games silver medalist in the women's 3,000m, in her stall every day with her two children, Imelda Tersia Rahawadan, who is four and a half years old, and Roberto Immanuel Rahawadan, 18 months.
Her husband, Yohanes Rahawadan, who is also a long-distance runner, accompanies her, particularly on Saturday nights when they open the stall round the clock. They sell instant noodles and coffee.
"Today, our stall is two months old. We open the stall at 6 a.m. and close at 10 p.m. I leave home at Lippo Karawaci, Tangerang, at about 4 a.m. with my children. They are getting used to the dawn wind," she told The Jakarta Post.
Martha, 27, said it was her idea to open the stall to meet the family's needs. She said her husband was initially reluctant to open the stall because he was afraid of losing face with his family.
"At first, bapak prevented me from opening this stall. He said he would be humiliated with his relatives. But finally he gave up. Now when I complain to him that I am very tired, he will snap 'it's was your wish to start this work. You have to bear the risk'. So I just continue working," she said.
"But recently he asked me to find an assistant because he noticed that I am getting exhausted."
Martha, who was born on March 6, 1972, started training in her hometown of SoE, a city in Timor Tengah Selatan regency in East Nusa Tenggara when she was seven years old. She was invited to join the centralized training center of the Indonesian Amateur Athletic Association (PASI) at Wisma Krida, also in Senayan complex, in 1980.
"PASI offered cash bonuses for national athletes who could win in the SEA Games. In 1987, a gold medalist got Rp 1.5 million while I, as a silver medalist, received Rp 1 million. It was a lot of money in those day," she recalled.
She said she failed to land a job at the West Java Regional Development Bank (BPD) even though she provided a recommendation from the chief of PASI's West Java chapter.
"The current athletes are luckier than I was. They got bonuses from PASI and its chapters that they represented each time they won in the championship," she said.
Yohanes, 35, is still running to earn a living and wants to compete in the 15th National Games (PON) in the 5-km and 10-km events. However, he failed to achieve the time limit of 32:00.00 for the latter event for PON in the national track and field championship in November. He finished 18th out of 19 runners in a time of 35:12.34.
Yohanes, who is from Poka village in Maluku, has a final chance to qualify for PON in another national track and field championship in Surabaya, East Java, next year.
He is now training at Fajar Mas Murni athletic club here. The club is owned by the chairman of the Indonesian Amateur Athletic Association (PASI), Mohamad "Bob" Hasan.
"I'm not attending the training center. It's tiring. I don't want to waste my energy in track and field training. I don't want to be too serious in this job because being an athlete in Indonesia is not a prospective career."
Martha said she told her husband they should return to their village after PON. She said was tired of trying her hand at business.
"If God wants him to perform in PON, he will. The competition is getting tougher. After that, he promised me we could leave Jakarta, either to go to my home village or to Ambon, or even to Irian Jaya. Our lives could be much better in SoE. I want to start my own business," she said.
"However, I don't want to live in a transmigration area because we will be placed in a remote location."