An Evening With The Priyatnos
An Evening with the Priyatnos
The following is a transcript (translated from Indonesian) of a little video I recorded of my host family the Priyatnos, which I think is a typical Indonesian upper middle class family living here in Jakarta. They were aware that I was recording this conversation. The Priyatno family consists of the following:
Pak Priyatno (P): The Head of the Family, works as a interiors contractor, 56 years old
Ibu Ria (R): The working mother turned housewife/entrepreneur, 53 years old
Andi (A): The oldest son, an assistant manager at a 5-star hotel in Jakarta, 25 years old
Lia (L): The second child, architecture graduate, unemployed, 23 years old
Wibi (W): The youngest child, economics major, student, 21 years old
John (J): exchange student from Australia, political science major, 22 years old
[Camera switches on]
Scene: The family sitting in couches in the living room watching TV.
J: Okay, welcome to the Priyatno household where everyone’s sitting around the TV. Say hi, guys!
[Everybody either turns to the camera to say hi or waves while still watching the TV]
J: What are we watching, guys?
P: We’re waiting for the special live broadcast right now. The President is due to announce the cabinet reshuffle any minute now.
J: How big of an event is that?
R: Maybe for the Habibies and the Harmokos it’s a big thing because they want their followers to make it to the cabinet. For people like us, we just want the present work of the cabinet to continue so that the nation can get out of this economic crisis.
J: For those in Australia who’s unenlightened about the crisis, could you explain what it is?
R: I’ll leave it to the economist in the family to answer…
W: Well, pretty much it began as a currency crisis in Thailand which spread all across Southeast Asia, including Indonesia. And then much as elsewhere, it became an economic crisis with unemployment and whatnot.
J: How would you say Indonesia has fared in the crisis?
P: We got hit. We definitely got hit. But for sure, things are not as bad as say in Malaysia. They changed prime ministers because of this crisis. Even Singapore got into a recession late last year. We got into a crisis, we’re still in a crisis but we’re doing as well as we could be.
R: That’s the big picture. On a smaller scale, I’m concerned that Lia has not been able to get employment yet.
L: Yeah, I’m an architecture graduate. It’s pretty difficult to find jobs in the private sector with the construction sector doing so well. I tried applying for some of the jobs in the public sector for example building housing and apartment blocks as part of the stimulus package. I got an offer but I have to relocate to Ujung Pandang…
P: And there’s no way I’m letting that happen (turns to Mrs. Ria)…actually I’m concerned about you as well, my dear.
R: Bapak’s concerned about me because I got laid off 16 months ago.
J: What did you work as before, if you don’t mind me asking, Bu?
R: I was a Admin Manager at a family-owned steak restaurant. It’s been in business for say, 15 years. We use imported steak and because of the crisis, the price shot up and the owners could not handle it. The drop of value in Rupiah was just too much.
[Silence as all the family members give a sympathetic look to their mother]
R: But that’s okay, since then I’ve attended a Business Crash Course that the government put in place in the stimulus last year and I’ve gotten into making cakes. I’m getting a lot of orders that I’m considering opening a small cake shop. You’ve got to make do, I suppose.
W: We’re in a situation where some sectors are doing bad and some sectors are doing great. If you’re in construction or in manufacturing…if you’ve still got a job in those sectors then you should consider yourself lucky. Other sectors like tourism on the other hand...
J: You’re in the tourism sector aren’t you, Andi?
A: Sure am. That sector is really booming. From the point of view of foreigners, purely on the basis of the currency losing its value, Indonesia just got really cheap to travel to. So the hotel where I’m working, it’s never empty.
P: I think exporters are also doing well. My brother Yudi exports children’s clothing to the United States and he’s managed to take his family on an end-of-year holiday to Europe last Christmas.
J: So you’ve got different situation in different sectors. I want to move on to something else. Ibu Ria you attended a Business Crash Course that the government set up and then you, Lia, got an offer to work on a government project. How important do you think is the government’s role in the nation’s economic recovery?
A: I think it’s very important. We can be very cheap to travel to but if there’s no stability or a sense that everything is in order, people aren’t going to want to come here.
P: You should also mention trust as well. President Try he’s got trust. The IMF trusts him, the businesses –except the crooks- trusts him, and more importantly the people trusts him.
J: You sound like a fan of President Try.
R: Well, our family’s never been particularly political but we started paying attention to things just as the MPR Session was about to start last year
P: By mid-late February, the currency’s been stabilized if I remembered correctly. But then here we have the MPR Session, he’s got 3 others going for his job, and all of a sudden we’re worried that the policies he’s implemented might not be carried on or might in fact be dismantled by Harmoko or Habibie or God knows Tutut. We don’t vote for the president, of course, the MPR does. So at the time we’re just sitting there saying “Make the right choice, make the right choice.”
L: And it was a roller coaster ride too. Try Sutrisno 503-Habibie 497…
R: 200 million people on the line…we shouldn’t treat it as sport.
J: What do you all think of Try now? He’s got a five years term.
W: I’m amazed he managed to get all those fat cats to pay back the BLBI. That and the other steps he’s taking to guide the nation to economic recovery. Of course, now we’re hoping that Tutut doesn’t get the better of him…
L: He’s a breath of fresh air, I suppose.
A: After three decades, a fresh face is a breath of fresh air. Let’s just hope he’s not going to be another Soeharto.
L: He won’t.
P: [turns up TV volume] OK Kids, I think it’s about to start...
[John focuses the camera on the TV which now shows a live broadcast from the Presidential Palace. President Try Sutrisno takes his position at a lectern with Vice President JB Sumarlin standing next to him]
Try: Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
Fellow Indonesians wherever you may be.
As you may have heard I have approved of the resignations of Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas and Minister of Public Works, Housing, and Urban Development Sutjipto. Accordingly this means that there will be some changes in the composition of the cabinet…
[Camera Switches Off]
---
Something I scribbled but which I didn't know where to put. But as Pilatypus said above, a refresher from all the politics.
The following is a transcript (translated from Indonesian) of a little video I recorded of my host family the Priyatnos, which I think is a typical Indonesian upper middle class family living here in Jakarta. They were aware that I was recording this conversation. The Priyatno family consists of the following:
Pak Priyatno (P): The Head of the Family, works as a interiors contractor, 56 years old
Ibu Ria (R): The working mother turned housewife/entrepreneur, 53 years old
Andi (A): The oldest son, an assistant manager at a 5-star hotel in Jakarta, 25 years old
Lia (L): The second child, architecture graduate, unemployed, 23 years old
Wibi (W): The youngest child, economics major, student, 21 years old
John (J): exchange student from Australia, political science major, 22 years old
[Camera switches on]
Scene: The family sitting in couches in the living room watching TV.
J: Okay, welcome to the Priyatno household where everyone’s sitting around the TV. Say hi, guys!
[Everybody either turns to the camera to say hi or waves while still watching the TV]
J: What are we watching, guys?
P: We’re waiting for the special live broadcast right now. The President is due to announce the cabinet reshuffle any minute now.
J: How big of an event is that?
R: Maybe for the Habibies and the Harmokos it’s a big thing because they want their followers to make it to the cabinet. For people like us, we just want the present work of the cabinet to continue so that the nation can get out of this economic crisis.
J: For those in Australia who’s unenlightened about the crisis, could you explain what it is?
R: I’ll leave it to the economist in the family to answer…
W: Well, pretty much it began as a currency crisis in Thailand which spread all across Southeast Asia, including Indonesia. And then much as elsewhere, it became an economic crisis with unemployment and whatnot.
J: How would you say Indonesia has fared in the crisis?
P: We got hit. We definitely got hit. But for sure, things are not as bad as say in Malaysia. They changed prime ministers because of this crisis. Even Singapore got into a recession late last year. We got into a crisis, we’re still in a crisis but we’re doing as well as we could be.
R: That’s the big picture. On a smaller scale, I’m concerned that Lia has not been able to get employment yet.
L: Yeah, I’m an architecture graduate. It’s pretty difficult to find jobs in the private sector with the construction sector doing so well. I tried applying for some of the jobs in the public sector for example building housing and apartment blocks as part of the stimulus package. I got an offer but I have to relocate to Ujung Pandang…
P: And there’s no way I’m letting that happen (turns to Mrs. Ria)…actually I’m concerned about you as well, my dear.
R: Bapak’s concerned about me because I got laid off 16 months ago.
J: What did you work as before, if you don’t mind me asking, Bu?
R: I was a Admin Manager at a family-owned steak restaurant. It’s been in business for say, 15 years. We use imported steak and because of the crisis, the price shot up and the owners could not handle it. The drop of value in Rupiah was just too much.
[Silence as all the family members give a sympathetic look to their mother]
R: But that’s okay, since then I’ve attended a Business Crash Course that the government put in place in the stimulus last year and I’ve gotten into making cakes. I’m getting a lot of orders that I’m considering opening a small cake shop. You’ve got to make do, I suppose.
W: We’re in a situation where some sectors are doing bad and some sectors are doing great. If you’re in construction or in manufacturing…if you’ve still got a job in those sectors then you should consider yourself lucky. Other sectors like tourism on the other hand...
J: You’re in the tourism sector aren’t you, Andi?
A: Sure am. That sector is really booming. From the point of view of foreigners, purely on the basis of the currency losing its value, Indonesia just got really cheap to travel to. So the hotel where I’m working, it’s never empty.
P: I think exporters are also doing well. My brother Yudi exports children’s clothing to the United States and he’s managed to take his family on an end-of-year holiday to Europe last Christmas.
J: So you’ve got different situation in different sectors. I want to move on to something else. Ibu Ria you attended a Business Crash Course that the government set up and then you, Lia, got an offer to work on a government project. How important do you think is the government’s role in the nation’s economic recovery?
A: I think it’s very important. We can be very cheap to travel to but if there’s no stability or a sense that everything is in order, people aren’t going to want to come here.
P: You should also mention trust as well. President Try he’s got trust. The IMF trusts him, the businesses –except the crooks- trusts him, and more importantly the people trusts him.
J: You sound like a fan of President Try.
R: Well, our family’s never been particularly political but we started paying attention to things just as the MPR Session was about to start last year
P: By mid-late February, the currency’s been stabilized if I remembered correctly. But then here we have the MPR Session, he’s got 3 others going for his job, and all of a sudden we’re worried that the policies he’s implemented might not be carried on or might in fact be dismantled by Harmoko or Habibie or God knows Tutut. We don’t vote for the president, of course, the MPR does. So at the time we’re just sitting there saying “Make the right choice, make the right choice.”
L: And it was a roller coaster ride too. Try Sutrisno 503-Habibie 497…
R: 200 million people on the line…we shouldn’t treat it as sport.
J: What do you all think of Try now? He’s got a five years term.
W: I’m amazed he managed to get all those fat cats to pay back the BLBI. That and the other steps he’s taking to guide the nation to economic recovery. Of course, now we’re hoping that Tutut doesn’t get the better of him…
L: He’s a breath of fresh air, I suppose.
A: After three decades, a fresh face is a breath of fresh air. Let’s just hope he’s not going to be another Soeharto.
L: He won’t.
P: [turns up TV volume] OK Kids, I think it’s about to start...
[John focuses the camera on the TV which now shows a live broadcast from the Presidential Palace. President Try Sutrisno takes his position at a lectern with Vice President JB Sumarlin standing next to him]
Try: Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
Fellow Indonesians wherever you may be.
As you may have heard I have approved of the resignations of Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas and Minister of Public Works, Housing, and Urban Development Sutjipto. Accordingly this means that there will be some changes in the composition of the cabinet…
[Camera Switches Off]
---
Something I scribbled but which I didn't know where to put. But as Pilatypus said above, a refresher from all the politics.