Why Tuyul Never Steals Money from Banks: Out of Respect or...

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - The figure of the tuyul is known in Indonesian folklore as a supernatural being believed to steal money for its master. From this belief arises a question often discussed by the public: is it true that a tuyul cannot steal money from a bank?

Cultural scholar Suwardi Endraswara, in his book Dunia Hantu Orang Jawa (2004), writes that tuyul activity is believed to be carried out from house to house. Its work is not limited to stealing money, but also goods and valuable documents.

In popular belief, a tuyul is usually kept by someone obsessed with wealth. However, to date there has been no case of a bank losing money due to theft by a supernatural being with the body of a small child.

Various answers to this question circulate on the internet. Some say tuyul are afraid of metal because money in banks is stored in safes. Others say banks have ‘guards’ in the form of other supernatural beings feared by tuyul.

These answers are merely speculation about something that is indeed illogical. However, regardless of the answer to that question, one thing is certain: there is a scientific reason behind the mystical story of the tuyul. This reason can debunk the existence of tuyul and also explain why tuyul do not steal money from banks or take someone’s e-money balance.

To understand the explanation, we must go back to 1870. At that time, the Dutch inaugurated the open-door policy or economic liberalisation, replacing the forced cultivation system. At first glance, this change brought fresh air because it was considered capable of improving people’s welfare. However, the reality was different.

According to Jan Luiten van Zanden and Daan Marks in Ekonomi Indonesia 1800-2010 (2012), economic liberalisation actually gave birth to a new colonial regime in which people’s plantations were taken over and converted into large plantations and sugar factories. This situation then made people’s lives deteriorate, especially small farmers in Java who sank further into poverty because they no longer had control over plantation land.

On the other hand, some people prospered from this system. They were traders, both from indigenous and Chinese backgrounds, who instantly became the newly rich. Their rapid rise in wealth then caused astonishment among the increasingly impoverished farmers. The farmers were confused about the origin of their wealth.

It should be noted that at that time farmers lived modestly. According to Ong Hok Ham in Wahyu yang Hilang Negeri Yang Guncang (2019), they adhered to a subsistence system. This means farming was just enough for their own consumption. If there was surplus produce, it would be given as tribute or sold.

As a result, they had the view that wealth accumulation was an open process. In other words, everyone had to go through a clear process and effort that could be seen by others. The problem was that they did not see the hard work of the newly rich. Moreover, the newly rich could not prove the origin of their wealth when asked by the farmers. Consequently, envy and jealousy arose among farmers towards traders who could obtain so much wealth.

Furthermore, according to George Quinn in An Excursion to Java’s Get Rich Quick Tree (2009), farmers always believed that the arrival of wealth had to be accounted for. So when the rich failed to account for the origin of their wealth, the farmers became envious and accused the money of being the result of theft.

Because of their strong mystical outlook, the farmers viewed the theft as the result of cooperation between the rich and supernatural, invisible beings. One of these was the tuyul. The tuyul is a Javanese mythological figure that has been known for a long time. It takes the form of a small, bald supernatural being or ghost that can be kept.

Thus, envious farmers always accused the newly rich of using illicit means to obtain wealth. As a result of these accusations, writes Ong Hok Ham in another book titled Dari Soal Priayi sampai Nyi Blorong (2002), successful traders and entrepreneurs lost their status in society. They were considered ‘despicable’ because they accumulated wealth through illicit means, namely by making pacts with demons. In fact, all this happened due to changes in Dutch colonial policy that brought unexpected fortune to entrepreneurs.

The farmers’ dislike of the suddenly wealthy did not only affect personal relationships, but more than that. As a result, there was a change in the way the rich transacted goods. The rich then tended to buy goods that did not show their true wealth, such as gold or luxury items. If they bought land or a house, they would be accused by farmers of keeping a demon or tuyul.

These baseless accusations increased the popularity of the tuyul as a mystical subject in matters of wealth and it remains popular to this day in Indonesia. Moreover, Indonesian society, which for years lived agrarian lives, further perpetuated the imagination and accusations involving the tuyul.