How low-income people spend their weekends

How low-income people spend their weekends

By K. Basrie

JAKARTA (JP): Getting away from the routine weekend is not the
monopoly of the well-to-do. Low-income people in Jakarta also see
weekends, particularly Sundays, as the appropriate time to spend
their money for leisure.

Unlike the rich, however, they can't afford visiting and
staying overnight at holiday resorts far away from the city. With
their limited budget, they have to be extra careful in choosing
the "right" holiday spot.

But Jakarta is a city with various facilities for all walks of
life. There are recreational spots for the wealthy as well as for
the tight-budgeted residents.

Even though it is not easy to earn money here, it seems that
low-income people would not mind spending some of their earnings
to enable them to leave their routine weekends, even if they have
to break their piggy bank.

Maman, a 31-year-old tofu hawker, for instance, spent almost
half of the money he earns during a week, when he took his wife
and two children for a weekend at the Ragunan Zoo in South
Jakarta recently.

They arrived at the zoo at 8 a.m. after a one-and-a-half hour
drive by bus from their rented house in Grogol, West Jakarta.
After paying Rp 6,000 (US$2.50) for entrance fees for the whole
family, Maman led his wife and children around the zoo's vicinity
and browsed for three hours. They took a ride on a dokar (horse
carriage) around the zoo and looked at the animals from one cage
to another. Sometimes, they had to stop in front of food stalls
or toy traders to meet their children's requests.

The family had a picnic at the zoo, eating their homemade
lunch on a mat placed under a tree. While Maman and his wife took
a rest, their children, two girls aged three and four, chatted
and played happily with their new toys around the tree.

At around 4 p.m., Maman took his family home again. They spent
around Rp 25,000 for the entire day.

Fresh again

"I feel fresh again and ready to work hard in the coming harsh
days," said Maman.

"Besides, I'm proud that, as a man, I could bring my wife and
children to spend the weekend at a holiday spot like many other
people in this big city," said Maman, a junior high school
dropout from a village in Subang, West Java.

The amount of money Maman had to spend on that weekend is
significant for a street vendor like him, who has to walk many
kilometers every day with a wooden crate on his shoulder offering
tofu.

On the average, Maman said, he could earn Rp 50,000 per week.

According to Maman, he and his family always spend Sundays at
the city's popular, but cheap, holiday spots twice a month.

Among their favorite places are the Monas park in Central
Jakarta, and Ragunan Zoo and Taman Mini Indonesia Indah in East
Jakarta.

His wife, Triana, 25, commented: "Everybody, including the
poor like us, need to refresh our bodies and minds and make our
children happy."

Like Maman's, many other low-income families flock to their
three most favorite recreational spots, namely the Ragunan Zoo,
Monas park and Taman Mini, to spend their weekends.

Ancol Dreamland in North Jakarta, where a wider range of
sophisticated entertainment facilities are available, is also
popular. But visitors have to spend more money there.

"We go there only on special occasions, like Lebaran, New
Year's Day or school holidays," said Buyung, a street broker for
printing materials at Benhil in Central Jakarta.

Ticket

Of the three popular places among low-income Jakartans, only
the Monas park charges no fee for visitors. In this spacious
park, there is a crowd of traders offering a variety of items,
from balloons and toys to sandals. When night falls, families try
to avoid the park, because prostitutes and transvestites come on
the scene.

An entrance ticket at the Ragunan Zoo costs Rp 1,000 for
adults and Rp 500 for children. most of the facilities available
there are free. The entrance fee at Taman Mini is twice the price
of Ragunan and visitors need to spend extra money to see or enjoy
certain facilities.

An entrance ticket at Ancol Dreamland is Rp 2,500 on weekdays
and Rp 3,000 on Sundays. Children above the age of two years are
charged the same rate as adults. Those who want to enjoy the
entertainment facilities, such as the dolphin show or Sea World
have to pay much more. Almost every weekend, however, the
management provides free entertainment, such as music shows.
Ancol, located next to Jakarta Bay, attracts thousands of people
during weekends.

Shopping malls

Besides some holiday spots, many low-income Jakartans find the
mushrooming shopping plazas as another low-cost place to spend
their weekends.

"We've visited almost all of the popular recreation centers in
this city. Now we have learned that exclusive shopping malls are
probably the most desirable place to enjoy the weekend," said
Jumadi, 21, a garment worker.

The Jakarta Post met him when he and his four friends were
hanging around the Lippo Supermal in Karawaci, Tangerang.

He said they liked going to the mall to window-shop and watch
many beautiful girls there. Sometimes they felt embarrassed
because they looked poor.

"If we feel embarrassed because of our clothes and we look
like we're broke, we just buy cheap soft drinks to build our
self-confidence," said Agus, one of Jumadi's friends.

So, it's obvious that the popular "I love Fridays" slogan is
not only popular among top business executives and their staff,
but also among low-income people.