Restless Bawean islanders earning riches overseas
By Widyarto
BAWEAN, East Java (JP): Bawean, an island 120 km north of the East Java capital of Surabaya, may be the only place in Indonesia where you can find Mahathir Road and Goh Chok Tong Road.
Mahathir and Goh Chok Tong are names very popular among the Bawean people because many of them have migrated to Malaysia and Singapore looking for a better fortune.
The so-called Mahathir Road and Goh Chok Tong Road are rural roads on the island whose construction has been financed by the community.
One of the locals, Haji Mizan, said: "They are smooth concrete roads, constructed by the community's ringgit and dollars," referring to the currencies the Bawean people receive from their relatives working in Malaysia and Singapore.
The only main road going round the island -- 55 km long and asphalted -- is now in poor condition.
"The asphalt road with potholes and in poor repair is called Soeharto Road," Mizan added.
The 170-sq-km island is administratively included in Gresik district, East Java. It is divided into two subdistricts, Sangkapura and Tambak, and has one port, Sangkapura Port.
Bawean people are known as tough sailors. With only the stars as their compass, many of them sailed thousands of miles to Singapore and Malaysia. There they settled, working and raising a family.
It is the tradition on this island that when one becomes an adolescent, one will set sail for a foreign shore. This explains why the population on Bawean island has never exceeded 70,000. Formerly, only men sailed away and, understandably, until three decades ago, the island was dubbed Island of Girls. Now, however, young women are also leaving the island for better prospects abroad.
In each Bawean family there must be at least one member who works abroad, and some have even relinquished their Indonesian citizenship.
"However, Bawean is one's place of birth and death," Baharuddin, chief registrar at Bawean Islamic court and also a community elder, jokingly said.
Bawean people who retain their Indonesian citizenship usually return to their home village in their old age and spend the rest of their lives on this island.
"Blood is thicker than water. Different citizenships will not make family members alien to one another," he said.
"Five of my own aunts live in Singapore and four of my six siblings are also there. My own parents also spent some time there working."
Baharuddin is not alone as 13,000 other families on Bawean have a similar experience. Many of the Bawean people have given up their farming jobs and started a new life as migrant workers abroad.
They usually work in Malaysia and Singapore as manual laborers, construction workers or housemaids. Others work for shipping companies. Understandably, there always some crew members hailing from Bawean in multinational shipping companies based in Malaysia and Singapore.
Sailing is the pride of the Bawean people. A traditional Bawean boat can now be found at Singapore's National Museum, given as a token of the glory of the ancestors of the Bawean sailors. Now, once a year, Bawean people will perform their traditional rite, marked by sailing on board a traditional sailboat to Singapore.
Return home
Masdar, 70, a resident of Menara hamlet, Tambak, returned to his home village eight years ago after working in Malaysia as a laborer for 30 years.
All his five sons live in Malaysia and have become Malaysian citizens. Masdar now intends to spend the rest of his life in Bawean with Syafi'ah, 65, his wife, and Syu'aidah, the wife of his youngest son, in a house with expensive furniture and a satellite dish.
"All my sons are married. Eleven of my grandchildren are Malaysian by nationality. Only one of my grandchildren, Syu'aidah's child, was born here. My only job now is to raise this child," said Masdar.
His wage ranged from 4 ringgit to 20 ringgit a day during his working years in Malaysia.
"No laborer in Java can build a 150-square-meter house with brick walls," he said, proud of his own house.
Bawean people living in Malaysia and Singapore usually have an identity card (IC), similar to a greencard used in the U.S. by alien residents. These ICs will help them find a job once their contract expires.
When the Malaysian government conducted a raid against illegal migrant workers about a year ago, very few migrant workers from Bawean were netted. The few who were netted were those failing to carry their ICs.
When they first head for Malaysia or Singapore, the Bawean people only have their passports and work permits. From that it will be relatively easy for them to obtain an IC because of a recommendation from their relatives, who are permanent residents there.
The Bawean community in Malaysia and Singapore continues to grow and it is now even bigger than the number of Bawean people at home. According to the Singapore Bawean Association, Singaporean residents hailing from Bawean were recorded at about 150,000 people in 1995, while the Malaysian Statistics Agency states that the number of Malaysian residents of Bawean origin in the same year stood at 250,000.
Nevertheless, these Bawean migrants stay in contact with people back home. They return to their village home at least once a year, usually during Idul Fitri, the Islamic feast celebrating the end of the fasting month. And, when they return to their adopted countries, they take with them a host of their relatives.
The Bawean migrants regularly send money home. According to a local illegal money changer -- there is no bank on Bawean -- Rp 1 billion is sent home each month. The amount is actually said to be much bigger, taking into account money sent through official channels as well as jewelry, electronic goods and clothing they send back home to their relatives.
When sending money or goods to relatives, Bawean migrants prefer to rely on a courier, a person is assigned to take money/goods from Malaysia or Singapore to Bawean. His fee is 10 percent of the value of the money/goods. Almost every village has their own courier, who usually do their job once a month.
The monetary crisis, which has caused headaches for many Indonesians, has risen the welfare level of Bawean people.
"See what the monetary crisis has brought about here. In the past year, Bawean has seen better houses, more brand new cars and motorcycles. Prices of basic commodities are increasing but our people here have stronger purchasing power," said Mizan, who is the biggest money changer in Bawean.
"There is no problem related to social gaps on this island. That's why crime is very rare here," he added.
True. This island has practically no crimes. It is prosperous, secure and peaceful.
A policeman stationed on Bawean said: "It is nice to be assigned here. We only eat and sleep. No crime, no theft, no such things. The problem is that it is a very quiet place. There is no entertainment."