Laborers keep faith, hope amid hard times

By Sugianto Tandra and Prismatuti Handayani

JAKARTA (JP): Many blue-collar workers may find it harder to follow the disciplined tenets of fasting this month.

Most are bewildered by the sudden economic downturn, and at a loss to understand how it happened.

But they feel the effects in trying to make ends meet. Prices of daily needs are soaring, wages are staying put and job openings are few and far between.

Worst of all, some are out of work.

The talk of devaluation and inflation may go over their heads, but the harder realities of their lives are only too apparent.

For unskilled workers whose only credentials are muscle and a willingness to work hard, times are particularly bad.

"I've endured so many bad situations, but this is the worst of all," Seno, a casual laborer from the Purbalingga regency in Central Java, said of this year's Ramadhan.

"It's no problem for me to fast, especially at a time like this, not working," said the 44-year-old who decided to try his luck in the capital five years ago.

"It's a blessing in disguise because usually during Ramadhan, I only fasted sporadically due to my work.

He usually hangs out with several friends near a bus stop in Cawang, East Jakarta, in the hope of work. They share a cheap rented house.

Seno said he usually returned home to celebrate the Idul Fitri post-fasting holiday with his wife and two sons.

"I think about them when I have my first sahur (predawn meal). It's hard to think about how to make ends meet now," he said.

Due to the lack of work and with their cash pooled together, Seno and his friends eat salted fish and vegetables for sahur, and cheap rice and accompaniments to break the fast.

He still believes God is compassionate. "I think Allah will be merciful to those who persevere, and I believe everything eventually turns out well."

Friends told him the government was working on creating labor-intensive projects to get them back to work.

Also looking forward to a better lot this month is Ujang, a 60-year-old Queen taxi driver from a village in Bogor, West Java.

"I'm an ignorant man, but I always believe that the fasting period brings all of us some good things, especially during these hard times."

A grandfather of six teenagers, Ujang perform the fast with greater awareness of the crisis.

"It's a very, very bad time, it's difficult for me to earn the daily rental fee of Rp 75,000 (US$15) that I must pay to my boss.

"Now I owe my boss a lot of money because of my failure to meet the required daily rental fee."

Ujang said the grim situation today contrasted with happy memories of the carefree Ramadhans of his childhood.

"It's not only the food that I remember, but also the seemingly longer nights which you could spend playing with your friends," said the man who commutes to Bogor two or three times a week to see his wife.

To Mbok Waginem, a 40-year-old food vendor in Pondok Bambu, East Jakarta, the fasting month means an increased workload and no spare time for herself.

"I have to shop twice, in the afternoon and early in the morning," said the native of Central Java's Wonogiri regency.

She leaves home for the market at around 7 a.m. to buy vegetables, meat and fruit, which she later sells to her customers in a nearby housing complex.

She returns home at 5 p.m., but has to go the market again at 7:30 p.m. to buy items for the next day. In the evening, she buys kolak stewed fruits in coconut milk, cincau, a leaf made into aspic, and other snacks for breaking the fast.

"I have to be sure that these meals are good, otherwise housewives will complain to me," Waginem said.

The crisis has cut into her earnings.

"However, I still have to thank God for His blessings, regardless of how small my profit is."

She said no amount of economic hardship could stop her from fulfilling her obligations during Ramadhan.

"I began to fast when I was a child and it's a tradition in my big family to do so when the month comes," she said.

An unwanted consequence of her hectic business is that she does not have time to go to the mosque for the tarawih prayer in the evening or the subuh in the early morning.

"I can only enjoy Ramadhan when I return to my village four days before the Idul Fitri."