The sound of 'typing orchestra' softening

By Kafil Yamin

BANDUNG (JP): Passing through a small neighborhood next to Padjadjaran University, one hears a massive clattering. If you listen a bit longer, you hear it has a sort of orderly beat, like a percussion orchestra.

That is the typical sound of typewriters in use. Residents of the neighborhood, who offer typing services to university students and lecturers, have been making a living with their typewriters for years, despite the growing popularity of PCs.

The invasion of computers has caused the typical clattering to soften from day to day, being replaced by the gentler strikes of the PC keyboard. But many residents of the "village of typists" place the value of typewriters much higher than that of the sophisticated PCs.

"I have a brand new PC which is expensive, but I get more appreciation from this old-fashioned typing machine," said Asep, 42, a typist who has been eking out a living on his Brother typewriter for 20 years.

He is not exaggerating when he says his old typewriter has contributed to the academic titles of numerous university graduates -- until today.

Likewise, the typewriter has enabled him to feed his family and send his four children to school. He was able to buy a PC because of its merits.

"I never underestimate my old Brother," he adds.

Like his fellow typists, he rents a small stall near the university campus. Students come to his stand for his services. He charges Rp 2,000 (23 US cents) a page on the typewriter, and Rp 3,000 per page on the PC.

He earns somewhere between Rp 1 million and Rp 1.5 million a month, which is just enough to make ends meet. But this is less than what he used to earn in the past, and the buying power of the rupiah has declined.

The typists mainly attribute their declining income to the increasing prevalence of PCs. "In the past," recalls Kosasih, another typist, "students used our services because they didn't have their own typewriters and it was difficult to borrow them from friends during the busy semester."

Also, there was no such a thing as typewriter rentals. Now students can rent a computer and work on their assignments themselves.

The typists also blame the new academic policy that no longer requires last-year students to produce a skripsi, or minithesis, for their undergraduate degrees.

Taking the place of the minithesis is the so-called final report, which is not required for students to earn their S-1 degrees.

"The policy is a disaster for us," said Asep. "When skripsi was one of the requirements, typists used to enjoy what we called the harvest season. That was a time of big orders. Last-year students would come to us to type a large number of pages -- around 250 to 300 pages."

"We were often overwhelmed. The workload was often too much," he added.

During these times, typists often shared the work among themselves. A typist who received a big order would transfer some of the work to other typists who were not as busy. This kind of cooperation still exists today.

For their part, the typists are aware that many university students obtained their degrees by cheating. They say they were often asked to copy an already approved minithesis.

"I just copied it. The only changes were the name of the author and the date. I just wondered how they could get away with it," said a typist who asked for anonymity.

Now there is no such thing as the harvest season and the typists' income has dropped by 50 percent. The final report, which is only 15 to 20 pages long, is optional, with those students short on credits allowed to take extra exams instead.

This academic policy change enables students to rent a computer and spend a few hours completing their work.

Many residents in the neighborhood have given up typing to find new professions. A few of them had the means to open up their own computer rentals.

But typewriters have not completely lost their ability to provide a living. Many students still come to have their assignments typed out on the old machines, so many of the typists are not ready to give up on their typewriters.

"I would say typewriters still survive," Kosasih said.

But computers are in steady demand and it is getting more and more difficult to fix typewriters, especially when damaged parts must be replaced.

"If we can find a part we need, the price is very expensive. Maybe because supplies are declining due to the decreasing role of typewriters," said Asep.

Some have chosen to sell their typewriters cheap to a local market. From here, the machines will pass to smaller spaces -- a village or district administration office.

But their decreasing role has made typewriters somewhat exclusive items. The typists say a brand new Brother costs Rp 800,000, nearly the same price as a second-hand one.

Despite their dogged survival, most of the typists foresee the future disappearance of typewriters. Does this mean the service provided by this village of typists also will come to an end?