Hawkers make a living on buses around city

Leo Wahyudi S., The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Although city buses are not really supermarkets, passengers may buy a variety of goods on them at low prices.

It is very common nowadays to see hawkers getting in and out of buses, not only at bus stops but also at traffic lights in the city. Sometimes even along toll roads during traffic jams.

Even people traveling on the buses along the main roads, such as Jl. Thamrin, Jl. Sudirman, Jl. Gatot Subroto, and the Jakarta- Merak toll road, will have a chance of hearing hawkers offering their merchandise, which includes stationery, housewares, snacks and fresh fruit.

Sabam Manurung, 34, a welding supervisor at a construction company three years ago, is a hawker. He was laid off by his company following the economic crisis in 1998.

The father of two children, who lives in Manggarai, South Jakarta sells scissors, glue, cotton buds, and pins. "I like selling goods this way as it is profitable," said Sabam, who comes from Sibolga in North Sumatra.

He purchased his merchandise from wholesalers in the Mester market at Jatinegara, East Jakarta, because it was cheap there.

He made a profit of 30 percent to 50 percent. For instance, he bought a pair of scissors at Rp 750 but sold them at a minimum price of Rp 1,000. But sometimes he managed to sell them for more than that.

He claimed that with an average sale of four dozen to five dozen items per day, he could earn a net income of about Rp 30,000.

"That's much better than my income as a supervisor a few years ago," Sabam proudly told The Jakarta Post.

Emil, 24, another hawker, seemed to be luckier in selling multipurpose knives, which move well. "I can sell on average three dozen knives per day, earning a daily net income of around Rp 70,000," he said.

He relies on his ability to use promotional patter to attract passengers to buy his goods. He seemed to have boundless reserves of energy for getting on and off buses that passed in front of him to explain in amusing fashion the use of his goods to passengers.

"My patter is the key to attracting buyers," Emil said, noting that most passengers bought his goods due to his persuasiveness and the lower prices he offered compared with those for goods sold at supermarkets.

Emil, who has been working as a street hawker for 12 years, underlined the importance of communication skills to win over public transportation passengers. Otherwise, a hawker would suffer great losses, he said.

Sabam and Emil said that they enjoyed being street hawkers as they were their own bosses, despite the fact that sometimes they got into difficulty.

"Sometimes the bus crews won't let us board. At other times we have found that passengers have felt bothered by our presence. Once I was spat at by a passenger," Emil said. "I wonder why passengers feel upset at us as we're only trying to earn a living."