The wisdom of traditional workers

The wisdom of traditional workers

Profesi Wong Cilik: Spiritualisme Pekerja Tradisional di Java
(The Little Man's Profession: Spiritualism of Traditional Workers
in Java); By Iman Budhi Santoso; Yayasan Untuk Indonesia, Yogyakarta,
1999; 274 pages.

JAKARTA (JP): Have you ever imagined the work of a graveyard
caretaker or a circumciser? How much do court servants, coconut
tree climbers or turtledove baiters earn? How do jamu (herbal
medicine) vendors, roadside barbers, well diggers or blacksmiths
make a living?

The above jobs are traditional occupations in the Javanese
community. We may not know or care about them. We may never have
thought about their existence. It is logical. They can be found
only in villages, or in peripheral urban areas, far from the
attention and view of people leading a "modern" lifestyle. If
they are visible they are often seen as part of an exotic life.

This book describes 18 traditional professions. Apart from the
above-mentioned there are the traditional midwives, tea pickers,
pedicab drivers, wood sawyers, market porters, slaughterhouse
butchers, household servants, mountain guides and retired
soldiers. Iman Budhi Santoso, the author, is known as a
Yogyakarta-based poet who likes to go on roving journeys. He once
worked as a plantation supervisor, moving from one area to
another. His experiences since the late 1960s constitute the main
part of this book. He witnessed and felt the life of traditional
workers. He talked and lived with them.

Apart from knowing their world, what lesson can we learn from
these traditional workers?

First, although all the activities are classified as work, it
is not mere commerce and business. The greater part of it is
dedication. Many among the traditional midwives are guided by the
urge to help mothers give birth. Whatever time they are called
away they are ready to help. Dedication to humankind is the main
thing for these women. Most of them do not know work hours or
holidays.

Second, the midwives, the circumcisers, the masseurs and the
coconut pickers mostly have no fixed rates. It is up to the
customer.

Third, these traditional workers are imbued with the principle
of work distribution. A worker plowing the rice field will
decline an offer to climb a coconut tree although he is
unemployed and capable of doing it. They do not want to take
someone else's livelihood.

Fourth, there is a kind of professional ethic in their
circles. The traditional midwives, for instance, refuse
abortions, be it the result of illicit love, an abundance of
children or whatever.

Their work philosophy, full of the humanitarian, is the
spiritual and religious meaning of their work. They see their
skills not as theirs but as God-given. God makes use of them as
intermediaries to light the candle of love and mutual help, not
to vie with and beat one another.

It is on account of this that some among the traditional
workers carry out their work as part of their spiritual conduct.
There are many abstinences and preconditions they must adhere to
in the context of their beliefs. A turtledove baiter releases one
of his favorite turtledoves every year. It is to inform the world
of turtledoves beyond that he does his work just to make a
living. He does not intentionally imprison the birds to torture
them their whole lives.

The same spiritualism can be found with the caretaker of a
graveyard. He is not just a guardian of graves and remains, but
he is a middleman for people to communicate with the souls of
ancestors in the invisible world. Therefore, he must pass through
several spiritual roles to arrive there. A blacksmith does not
want to forge weapons. It is the task of a craftsman. A
blacksmith cannot prevent arms from being used for evil purposes.

The author was apparently lucky to see, observe and talk with
these traditional workers. They were often religious and had a
strong sense of humanism. His descriptions are sometimes very
idealistic. Readers with different experiences may detect some
nostalgia in descriptions of former conditions.

Now, a great many of those professions have undergone a
substantial transformation. Some have become commercial. Must the
circumcisers and the midwives not have certificates? A renowned
masseur may have no fixed rates, but many people know what the
minimum fee is.

Barbers are increasingly marginalized by the technology of
beauty parlors. This is implicitly admitted by the writer by his
frequent use of the adjective "still pure" for the traditional
workers.

It is also no coincidence that the majority of people in
traditional professions are low-ranking workers. Although they
are rich spiritually, economically they are clearly below
average. This is apparently a problem too. A traditional worker
is clearly a little worker, a little man. But are all little
workers traditional workers in the sense that they are totally
imbued with spiritual conduct? Does a retired soldier also have a
profession? These are disturbing matters in this small book.

Apart from those considerations, this book is very
interesting. It is a kaleidoscope of life in which old values,
solidarity, tolerance and mutual consideration are pushed aside
by new values full of business calculations of profit and loss.
It gives a great number of illustrations and mirrors for us who
continue to fight in the hectic market competition. That is if we
are willing to read them and reflect on them.

-- Hairus Salim HS