Vendors make most of Independence Day

Vendors make most of Independence Day

JAKARTA (JP): For casual traders, the upcoming national
Independence Day is a good opportunity to make a tidy buck.

Some seasonal businesses emerge at this time of the year as
many avail of the chance to sell national flags, flag poles and
other related paraphernalia, including poles obtained from areca
palm stems.

Hopeful vendors have been displaying their wares on sidewalks
across Jakarta since the beginning of the month.

At the busy Arteri Pondok Indah road in South Jakarta on
Friday, Mamat, an areca pole vendor, sat at a cigarette stall
chatting with his friends.

"I haven't sold anything today, but since I started on Aug. 1,
I've already had 20 buyers who paid me down payments for the
poles," he said.

Mamat said that his buyers would pay the rest on the day of
delivery.

The price of an areca pole, which is between four meters and
five meters long, ranges from Rp 150,000 to Rp 200,000, including
delivery costs.

"The taller and straighter the pole, the more expensive it
is," Mamat told The Jakarta Post.

The poles are not for flying the national flag. Instead, they
play an important role in a traditional event held in celebration
of the Aug. 17 Independence Day. The event is known as panjat
pinang (which can be loosely translated as "climbing the pole",
during which the participants have to climb to the top of the
pole, which is covered in grease, in order to snatch the various
prizes that are tied to the top.

Mamat, who has no permanent employment, has been availing of
the seasonal business for the past five years.

On other days, he usually looks for laboring jobs on building
sites.

"I use the profits I make from doing this to cover for the
days when I don't have a job," he said.

By the end of the season, Mamat said he could make a net
profit of Rp 1.5 million.

As for starting capital, Mamat claimed to have borrowed it
from friends and relatives.

"The areca poles are not difficult to sell as many will come
around looking for them so that they can hold the event in their
areas," Mamat said.

He buys the areca poles in Parung, West Java for about Rp
30,000 each, and then transports them to Jakarta. He cuts and
pares them himself.

Not far from Mamat's location, three other areca pole vendors
were waiting for buyers.

Yayan, a resident of Bekasi, has rarely gone home since Aug.
5, the day he started this year's pole selling.

At the end of the day, he sleeps in a makeshift food stall not
far from where his poles are stacked.

Yayan, too, has been in the business for the past five years.

This year, however, good luck has been in somewhat short
supply.

"By this time last year, I would have probably sold around 15
to 20 poles but, thus far, I have had only six people who have
handed over down payments," Yayan told the Post.

"Last year, I was able to sell up to 40 poles by the end of
the season," he said, adding that his net profit last year had
been Rp 2 million.

"I'm not sure what's causing business to be so slow this year,
but I'm optimistic that I will at least be able to break even by
the end of the season," he said.

Just like Mamat, Yayan does not have any permanent employment,
either. On normal days he will take any job that comes his way,
mostly as a construction worker.

When asked whether he would get involved in the same business
next year, Yayan nodded enthusiastically.

"This is a good business. Unfortunately, I can only do this
once a year," he said.

He hoped that this weekend more people would come and buy the
poles as the number of buyers usually increased after Aug. 10.

"Actually this morning, I had one buyer. I'm going to deliver
one pole to Puncak in West Java tomorrow," he said, adding that
he would have his relative watch his business while he was
away.(06)