In praise of the entrepreneurs of Jakarta

In praise of the entrepreneurs of Jakarta

By Myra Sidharta

JAKARTA (JP): No, no, this article is not about the high-
living wheeler-dealers of Jakarta. Too much has been written
about them already. I'm going to tell you about a lesser breed of
entrepreneurs, those who make it from rags to riches, those who
come to Jakarta from the provinces with only one dream: To become
rich.

And as there are many ways to become rich, these people try
all kinds of things to reach this goal. Many people think that
they all become criminals or at least join the legions of the
unemployed. Actually, few become involved in crime.

However, what they end up doing depends very much on the
connections they have in the big cities.

Most of them come to work as domestic help or laborers in the
construction sector. Their relatives in the city help them get a
job. Others get better jobs, becoming taxi drivers, for example.
They only need a driver's license, they don't need to know the
roads. Often they'll not even have the slightest notion of where
they are going.

Sometimes they start as apprentices, or as shop assistants or
waiters, but the smart ones are not happy until they can start
something up on their own. So when they have enough money, they
may open a little stall, selling everything from sweets to
sandals, all dangling from the ceiling of the little hut they
have made out of some wooden boards. This work is not without
danger. Sometimes a team of law and order officers comes and
takes away their stalls. Or a burglar may try to prise open the
stall, which they leave it unattended at night.

There are also food sellers, selling food in their pushcarts.
Every morning they push the carts, equipped with a stove, plates,
a pail of water and a bench, to crowded places and wait for
customers. The ice man has to grind his ice in the morning before
he sets out, and store the ice in a container to keep it cold.
He'll have a number of glass containers with colorful syrups and
jellies. The food man has to prepare his food, so he can serve
his customers fast and well. When everything is sold out, he
heads home, tired after a day's work. These people face "clean-up
operations" from time to time. A big truck comes, and the little
restaurant is taken to the police station lock, stock and barrel.
It is at these times that we can observe true solidarity: as soon
as the police appear, the vendors warn each other and try to save
as much as they can by hiding their belongings.

Then there are the artisans, who work in hairdresser's salons
or for dressmakers and tailors. It is about one of the tailors
that I wanted to tell you about. To me he is special, because he
has not only made it from rags to riches, but he also helped me
to convert my rags into dresses like those of the rich.

Pak Didung has a little shop opposite my house. He too started
small and was allowed to build a little shack in a fire exit
between two houses. He bought a sewing machine and started
sewing. His clientele grew and soon he took in an assistant, then
another, and then another. He married a nice girl and she took
sewing lessons to help in the business. She too seemed to be
quite gifted, because soon she had her own clients and I was one
of them.

It was a perfect arrangement for me, because in spite of my
modest means I like to dress like a supermodel.

Ibu Didung can make nice dresses for me for little money and
from inexpensive material. The secret is this: My friend Dea, who
is an impulsive buyer of designer dresses, always comes back from
her trips abroad with a number of dresses designed by Chanel,
Givenchy, Escada or Donna Karan. I just have to borrow them, take
them to Ibu Didung and she will copy them for me. Sometimes I
think I look even smarter than Dea herself. Pak Didung gives each
customer plastic bags with his name to carry their dresses home.
I wonder whether all his customers carry them with the same
feeling of pride.

The Didungs are doing very well now. When their children grew
up they bought a little minibus to drive them to school. But then
the neighbor's kids also needed rides. So why not take them too,
for a small fee to cover gas and maintenance?

I did not realize how well they had done until they moved.

Pak Didung rented a place for three million rupiah per year
and bought a small house for himself. After all, he has seven
assistants now, all hardworking people, who may soon leave him
and start a tailor shop of their own...