Street tailors offer cheap, speedy services
Street tailors offer cheap, speedy services
By Multa Fidrus
JAKARTA (JP): If you have just bought a brand new dress or
shirt, only to find that it is a bit too long or too tight, don't
worry -- you can have it fixed within minutes at a very low price
if you take it to the Prumpung area in Jatinegara, East Jakarta.
Of course, that is only if you don't mind braving the heat and
the vehicle pollution.
As the city administration has not yet provided a permanent
site to accommodate them, some 50 tailors are scattered around an
area stretching from the Jatinegara railway station to the
Prumpung flyover. Some tailors occupy the sidewalk, some the
park, while others even run their business on sections of the
road.
This situation not only looks bad, but also exposes both the
tailors and their customers to the thick black smoke of passing
vehicles.
Idol Parwita, 43, one of the street tailors working on the
road told The Jakarta Post he has to commute from Bogor to the
site every day and serves his customers with a very old sewing
machine.
He admitted that the location was hazardous to his health and
safety.
"If the city administration built a location dedicated to
accommodating street tailors around this area, we would not be
spread out like this," he said.
Idol worked for several textile manufactures in the capital
before resigning in the early 1970s to become a tailor.
He has run his business in the same spot since he became a
street tailor in 1974.
He related how, in the 1980s, public order officers frequently
conducted raids, causing him to lose two sewing machines, which
were never returned.
"Thank God, the city's public order officers no longer raid
street tailors and confiscate our sewing machines," he said.
Idol is quite happy being a street tailor. Earning between Rp
30,000 and Rp 50,000 a day, he is able to meet his family's
needs, including sending his three children to school. In the
third week of the fasting month of Ramadhan, when the Idul Fitri
holiday draws near, his daily income can double to as much as Rp
100,000.
"I can no longer do other kinds of work as I am getting older.
I have decided to stick to this job until the end of my life
because this job is relaxing," he said.
He said that a street tailor usually charges a customer Rp
3,000 for shortening a pair of trousers, Rp 5,000 for tightening
or loosening and Rp 10,000 for more complicated work.
Another street tailor, Zamhuri, 36, a resident in Cipinang
Besar Utara, starts working at 8 a.m. and finishes at 6 p.m..
He said his customers come from as far away as Bekasi,
Ciputat, Depok and Bogor. On average, he earns Rp 30,000 a day.
He frequently receives orders from hotels in the Jatinegara
area to make curtains, bed covers, pillow slips and other items.
Meanwhile, Mustanto, 19, a resident of Pasar Ciplak in East
Jakarta, who had Idol mend his denim jeans, said he visited the
area upon the recommendation of a friend who was satisfied with
the quality of work.
"That's why I wanted to try here. In addition to the cheap
price, I can wait until my jeans are finished," he said.
Similarly, Acih, 53, a resident of Kelapa Gading, East
Jakarta, who was waiting for Zamhuri to complete his bed covers
and pillow slips, said he had enjoyed the service of street
tailors since the early 1980s.
He said he was reluctant to go to "formal" tailors.
"Street tailors offer much quicker service and cheaper rates
than formal tailors," said the father of four children who runs a
motorcycle repair shop in Rawamangun, East Jakarta.