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My Jakarta: Halia, Bobby Pin Snipper
Sagita Adesywi | July 07, 2010

'Do I think I get paid enough? Nobody thinks they get paid enough,' Halia quips.
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MrNotOrdinary
12:15am Jun 5, 2010

you dont need to be fresh graduate to work in a factory. Its funny when you see vacancy on newspaper.diploma degree to be a doorman.oh please!

ledzep
6:42pm Jun 1, 2010

Kalideres is in West Jakarta, not east.

mns_ent
12:43am May 29, 2010

She does make very little money. But as she does not mind at all about it, she finds it a nice 'distraction' than just being a house wife, I guess it's fair enough, then!

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Halia makes her money one kilogram at a time. Every day the Kalideres, West Jakarta, native joins five of her friends in the shade to snip hundreds of thousands of the plastic bobby pins used in Jakarta’s high-end department stores to keep the crisp creases in shirts that sell for hundreds of times what she makes in one day.

Where do you get all these plastic clips?

Someone in the neighborhood told us that he needs help cutting these plastic clips from the moldings. He gets them from the factory and then brings them here and we spend the day clipping them with scissors.

How much do you make?

We get paid Rp 500 [5 cents] a kilogram and I would say that we clip and gather anywhere from 10 to 12 kilos of clips a day.

Don’t you think you deserve a little more than Rp 500 per kilo?

We used to only get Rp 350 a kilogram, but we got a raise last year. Do I think I get paid enough? No one ever thinks they get paid enough.

How many hours do you work a day?

It always varies, but we started work on this batch of clips at 9 this morning and we will be done by 3 p.m.

Does holding those scissors like that all day build calluses?

No. I don’t consider what I’m doing hard work. If it was hard work I wouldn’t do it. This job lets me have time to do my housework and be able to watch over my kids.

How long have you been doing this?

We started doing it five years ago. There are six people now from the neighborhood that cut the clips from the plastic. But we don’t just clip the plastic that holds the folds on the shirts you buy in department stores. We also cut the plastic for those clips that keep pairs of socks together on the rack.

What do you do once you’ve cut up all the plastic you have here at your feet?

We load it into these sacks here and the man from the neighborhood comes and picks them up from this house. When we’re finished the bags are too heavy to carry. He comes and does it for us.

What did you do before you worked clipping plastic?

I’ve never had a job before. I was a housewife before this. I just cut the clips because it’s easy work and I can do it whenever I don’t have any house work or I time that someone else can watch my kids.

Does you ever get bored sitting here cutting out plastic?

Sure, but sometimes it’s fun. I sit here with my friends and we chant. Plus, we have the freedom to start and stop whenever we please.

What does your husband do?

Hmmm ... what does my husband do [laughs]. He works at Soekarno-Hatta airport as a porter.

If you could work anywhere in the city, what would you prefer to do and where would you work?

I’ve never thought about that. I guess I would work wherever I knew I could provide for my family. I wanted to work in a factory, but I’m 40 and past the age limit.

Really, how young do you have to be to work in a factory in Jakarta?

You have to be a fresh graduate.


Halia was talking to Sagita Adesywi