National flags bring luck to seasonal street vendors

National flags bring luck to seasonal street vendors

Leo Wahyudi S, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The upcoming commemoration of Independence Day on Aug. 17 has
created an attractive business for some seasonal vendors who sell
the national flags.

Adi, 32, a flag vendor selling under the Mampang flyover in
Mampang, South Jakarta, said recently that with the seasonal
business he could earn much more money than he usually did
working as a mechanic at a motorcycle workshop in Cirebon, West
Java.

"It's more lucrative compared to my normal job," he told The
Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

From Aug. 3 when he started selling flags, he boasted that his
daily turnover could reach as much as Rp 1.5 million, of which
about 20 percent was net profit.

Adi said that he had made preparations back in May with a
total investment of Rp 15 million.

He added that he had sold flags at this time of the year for
the last four years.

Jumari, 47, a vendor in Matraman, East Jakarta, said that he
had sold flags since 1968. Despite a lack of capital, he boasted
that his daily sales reached at least Rp 7 million.

The vendors said that the smallest flags made of plastic cost
Rp 5,000 per package containing 100 sheets. The price of the
cloth flags depended on their size, ranging from Rp 7,500 per
piece for a 60 centimeter by 90 centimeter flag to Rp 50,000 for
the 1.2 meter by 1.8 meter size.

Adi said that the vendors usually got their cloth from Tanah
Abang, in Central Jakarta, the bamboo flag poles from Cirebon,
plastics and thread from Klaten, Central Java.

Jumari said that he had a good relationship with a wholesaler
so that he does not need to pay in advance for all the materials.

"With that trust I don't need much capital to do business,"
Jumari told the Post.

He admitted that he did not have much money for the seasonal
business now as his usual business, as a fruit seller in Jl.
Jend. Urip Sumoharjo in East Jakarta, was not running well.

Muhammad Yusup, 40, who resides in Depok with his four
children said that he enjoyed the seasonal work compared to his
normal job at a small scale garment industry in Karet Kuningan,
South Jakarta.

Yusup, who claimed that he earned a good income said that he
and his boss would stay all day long at their stand from Aug. 1
until Aug. 18 so that they were always ready to serve their
buyers.

"I enjoy this seasonal job because I don't have to think about
my daily meals and cigarettes," he said. "I wish that every day
was like this."