Workers struggle to survive
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Life could not be harder for minimum wage earners in the capital. They are forced to struggle to make both ends meet with the current minimum monthly wage of Rp 426,250 (about US$40).
One might wonder how they could survive earning such a low amount of money while the prices of goods keep on increasing.
Jefri, 43, an office boy working for a state enterprise on Jl. Jend. Sudirman, Central Jakarta, said that in addition to his Rp 400,000 monthly salary, he also received meal allowances amounting to about Rp 100,000.
"Fortunately, my wife runs a small shop at our house in Pamulang," said Jefri, who has two children.
Unlike Jefri, however, Sutrisno is the only breadwinner in his family. As a security guard for a foreign company on Jl. Jend. Sudirman, he receives a Rp 475,000 basic salary plus Rp 150,000 meal allowance each month.
"Actually, my salary is not enough to feed my family, especially at the moment with the prices of everything increasing. However, we have to be able to manage the money," said the 30-year-old father of one.
Sutrisno and his family live in a rented one-room home in the Bendungan Hilir area, Central Jakarta, for which they pay rent of Rp 125,000 a month.
He catches a bus to his workplace every day. The bus fare is Rp 900 and in a month he spends about Rp 50,000 on transportation. He hands over the rest of his income to his wife for the purchase of the family's basic necessities including, of course, food.
The family rarely has meat or fish as part of their daily diet because they can not afford it, said Sutrisno, whose wife does not work.
"We have to spend the money very carefully, otherwise it won't be enough for one month," he told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
He hopes that none of his family fall ill because he has never allocated money for health care.
"If one of us gets sick, we will buy medicine sold at street stalls. But if the illness gets worse, we will go to a puskesmas (community health center)," Sutrisno said, adding that he borrows money from his neighbors or relatives to pay the medical expenses.
Currently, the monthly minimum wage here is set at Rp 426,250. The amount is based on several factors, including the inflation rate, the cost of basic staples and consumer goods, as well as minimum living needs, or Kebutuhan Hidup Minimum (KHM).
KHM, a main element used to calculate the minimum wage, has components including food, clothing, housing and transportation.
Earlier this month, Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso issued a decree on the new minimum wage for 2002, which was set at Rp 591,600. The decree does not regulate transportation fees and meal allowances.
Many must be happy with the 38 percent wage increase, though some have responded to the move with a degree of skepticism, predicting that the cost of all goods and transportations will in turn also increase.
Wanda, a cashier at a Matahari department store in Blok M, South Jakarta, said: "It will be like the previous year when we had a pay hike, but it was not worth it at all because the prices of all items increased too."
Even with a such huge increase, the wage will barely be enough to make both ends meet.