Onyx craftsmanship on 'sunlight' island

Onyx craftsmanship on 'sunlight' island

Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post, Bawean, East Java

Bawean island lies about 70 kilometers off the north coast of
East Java province. It takes its name from a sanskrit phrase that
means "there is sunlight".

Apart from its tok-tok bull races, which are a major tourist
attraction in themselves, Bawean also has onyx, a sought-after
form of quartz that has a wax-like luster. Unfortunately, only a
few people have the skills to turn this valuable stone into
highly prized objects.

One of these is Mohammad Yasin, who comes from Rijing hamlet,
Sungai Teluk Sangkapura village, Bawean. Yasin is now a
successful onyx craftsman and businessman.

When The Jakarta Post visited his onyx workshop, Yasin, born
on April 15, 1937, in Laut Sungai hamlet, Sawah Mulya Sangkapura
village, Bawean, was wiping sweat from his face.

He was taking a break after supervising 32 workers who had
been excavating and processing onyx for a full day, and was about
to eat the meal that had been prepared for him at home.

"I work hard to promote my onyx business. Most of my employees
are from Bawean. As they work here, they don't have to migrate to
Malaysia for work," he said, adding that other workers were from
Tulungagung, East Java..

Yasin started up in 2000. Before that, he was a government
school teacher at several schools in Bawean. In 1970 he taught at
government elementary school Lebak No. 2, Sangkapura Bawean. Five
years later he was appointed headmaster of a government
elementary school in Sukalela, Tambak district.

"You live a difficult life as a teacher on an isolated island.
My income was barely enough to feed the whole family and we had
to eat cassava every day," said Yasin, who graduated from
Surabaya Teachers' Training Secondary School in 1970.

To earn extra income, Yasin went fishing after teaching. His
wife, Salmah, sold vegetables and several other daily
necessities.

In 1992, Yasin, who earned very little as a teacher, gave up
his job and started making roof tiles and bricks. He not only
sold them on Bawean but also in Gresik and Surabaya.

Gradually, Yasin's standard of living went up. Earning about
Rp 10 million a month, he was able to send his five sons and a
daughter to university in Malang.

"I also bought each of my children a home on Bawean," he said.

After graduating from university, Yasin's six children
returned to Bawean. His sons help him with his business while his
daughter is a health official on the island.

When the monetary crisis hit Indonesia in 1998, Yasin's
business collapsed as the demand for bricks and roof tiles from
places outside Bawean dropped. In 1999, he shut down the
enterprise.

Yasin remained optimistic, though, and in 2000 he started his
onyx business. A businessman in Gresik gave him a loan of Rp 210
million to start up. Some of the onyx he had excavated was sent
to an onyx craftsman in Tulungagung.

"I repaid the loan within a year," he said.

Thanks to his perseverance, Yasin not only sells unprocessed
onyx but also his own onyx products such as sculptures, furniture
and so on.

His onyx products are sold not only in Bawean but also in one
outlet in Tulungagung. Prices range from Rp 100,000 to Rp 10
million depending on the size of the objects and the intricacy
with which they are carved.

His onyx products are also exported to, among others, France,
Australia, Hongkong and China. Yasin's business makes about Rp 65
million a month.