Truck mudguard paintings kill drivers' boredom

Text and photos by K. Basrie

JAKARTA (JP): Traveling around Indonesia it is common to see expressive illustrations and phrases adorning the tailgates and mudguards of trucks.

Women probably hate many of the pictures as they are often vulgar depictions of female bodies. But it's after reading the accompanying captions that even a depressed driver could well burst into laughter. The messages vary widely, with some carrying religious meanings and others being much coarser expressions.

More often than not, the words are written in improper Indonesian -- either slang or modified from famous sayings.

Just examine the following examples: Buronan Mertua (Wanted by Parents-in-law), Kutunggu Jandamu (Waiting for Your Widowhood) and Pengen Lagi, Sayang (Give Me More, Honey).

Others include Aku Bukan Budak Cinta (I'm Not a Slave of Love), Putus Duit Biasa, Putus Rem Habislah Nyawa (You're Broke, it's Common, Your Brakes Fail, You Die) and Deru Roda Ekonomi (The Roaring of Economic Wheels).

Sometimes, it takes minutes to understand the real message of the paintings and captions.

A truck bearing the phrase Buronan Mertua, for instance, was illustrated with a picture of an eerie-looking man wearing a black costume and holding a black bra on top of a crate of burning coals. Under the picture, another phrase read Bertindak Sebelum Ditolak (Take Action Before Being Rejected).

The driver probably wanted to say that he had to perform a mystical ritual, such as baking the bra of his wife-to-be, to ensure her parents would accept his offer of marriage.

Dialects

Local dialects are also popular. Messages in the Minangkabau dialect (from West Sumatra), for example, are found on many trucks in Jakarta. The sayings include Rinai, Pembasuah Luko (Rinai, You Solve My Broken Heart) and Palala (Traveler).

An example of a common religious message written in Javanese is Dongakke Selamet, Le (Pray for My Safety, Son).

Foreign phrases, such as those derived from film titles, have also become one of the most popular themes among truck drivers, even though their structure and spelling are at times unorthodox. Two examples are Free Seks (Free Sex) and Ready For (instead of To) Kill.

Foreign words are sometimes processed into new phrases which can often be read by locals only after reading them dozens of times. One example is Behakumana (Where's My Bra) which is derived from the Indian film Behakumarri. According to established grammatical rules, the phrase should be Behaku Mana, written in two words instead of one.

Besides being decoration for their vehicles, the paintings also express drivers' attitudes and help while away the boredom of long journeys, according to several truckers.

"That's why the paintings vary from one truck to another," said Sujiwo, a rice truck driver plying the Jakarta-Karawang (West Java) route.

Generally only drivers of small- and middle-size trucks go for the paintings, which cost between Rp 15,000 and Rp 75,000 a time, depending on the size and difficulty of the drawings.

As with most things the illustrations' themes go in trends and vary from love and sex to home affairs and popular local issues.

In the past the most popular style was to have the portrait of women in various stages of undress. This has changed as both truck owners and drivers found the seductive paintings only brought misfortune on their business and were blamed for causing accidents.

"Only a few drivers still have their trucks painted with such immoral drawings," said Iman, a senior driver plying the Sumatra- Java route.

"Nowadays such drawings are confined to the mudguards."

The illustrations are usually of public figures, including noted local artists, such as Deasy Ratnasari, Diana Pungky, the late young singer Nike Ardilla and rock star Iwan Fals. Foreign icons, such as Sylvester "Rambo" Stallone, Yasser Arafat and Saddam Hussein, are also among the favorites.

"It's the drivers and the owners who decide the words to be painted," said Suwarno, alias Buyung, 52, a truck painter at Pasar Induk Cipinang food center market in East Jakarta.

Mood

"In many cases, the phrases are composed by the drivers based on their mood and the problems they are facing that particular day," said Buyung, who has painted thousands of trucks at the market since 1970.

As with scantily clad women, according to Buyung, many drivers believe certain phrases cause tragedies.

"Sometimes, young drivers never want to hear or see certain phrases as they hear their colleagues, who insisted on having them on their trucks, died in an accident," he said.

Buyung described the deaths of two truck drivers who were killed in different accidents a few years ago.

The first died instantly after his truck, adorned with Maut Diambang Senja (Death at Dusk), hit a tree in Bekasi, near Jakarta, at dusk. The second driver was killed in an accident in West Java. His truck, bearing the phrase Mpu Gandring, the name of a famous kris maker in the Majapahit kingdom who was killed by one of his own weapons.

"I'd told the drivers not to use the phrases because of similar incidents in the past but none of them obeyed me," Buyung said. He finally complied with the drivers' wish just to satisfy them.

"This is not a myth," said Buyung, who draws at least two trucks per day.

Today, his paintings always include, in small letters, the words Semoga Selamat (Have a Save Trip).

"All motorists passing the trucks should read them, which means they will pray for the safety of the drivers," he said.