Its funny how you can be so used to something but then have a moment where you are struck by it. This happened to me last night in regards to wealth and poverty here. As some of us were waiting outside the mall I looked up into the glass windows of McDonalds. McDonalds here is quite expensive by local standards, with meals often costing five times the amount they would elsewhere. So only well-off Indonesians can afford to eat there. I was watching a table of a family of five eating, thinking about how their meal would have cost what quite a few less-well-off people earn in a month. I looked up at this scene, and then looked down to find a street kid, probably around 7 years old standing next to me with his hand out waiting for me to give him some money. These kids don’t have a house or family to go home to at the end of the day, they just survive on the streets.
Indonesia can be such a land of contrasts like this, this is a scene you see and experience nearly everywhere. Like the other night when I went into the family quarters of my kos to find someone to refill the water dispenser. I was surprised to see how many people were there. It seems like quite a few of the extended family sleep on the garage floor. Meanwhile, in the very same building I can afford my own room with my own bathroom that has hot water, a comfortable bed, a desk and the internet.
Its hard to say whether this is the result of the enormous population of Indonesia or whether its the lack of state welfare and services. Probably a combination of the two. Population pressures are always very obvious, with the hardest thing being to find enough jobs for everyone. Businesses seem to have a duty to provide as many people with employment as possible. This means that a lot of things are done deliberatly inefficiently to maximise the number of people required to complete a task. For example, whenever you visit a department store, there are always millions of shop assistants standing around, looking bored. If you want to purchase something, one person will take that item to another place, write a receipt for it, give you the receipt and then take it to the cash register. You then go to the cash register, hand over your receipt and make the purchase with a different assistant, while yet another one puts it in a bag for you, while another 2-3 assistants watch over your purchase.
Nearly every day I see people who I think have the most boring jobs in the world. Things like opening the doors to the bank, or being one of 5 staff who stand around in an empty cafe waiting to serve the odd visitor. But these are the lucky ones, they have a job. They have an income, that’s all that matters.
But the thing that always cheers you up about this place is the friendliness and community spirit, as we experienced when we ate at the lesehan. Everyone sticks together, shares everything and look out for each other. Its what puts a smile on your face and reassures you when you see things that make you sad.
