A matter of bread and butter

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Indonesian construction workers relate their experience of working in a foreign land to support their families back home.

Tomas works at a construction site at Mile 10, Kuching-Penrissen Road.

WHO builds our towns and cities?

Most people would say engineers, architects, as well as town and city planners.

But there is a group of people working behind the scenes, literally with bricks and mortar, to turn city and town development plans into reality. They are the construction workers who play a big role in building the ‘physical’ part of our society.

In fact, it is not too far-fetched to say our towns and cities are built on the backs of these workers. Without them, town and city planning might not move beyond the drawing board.

Hidden among the rising steel and concrete structures, their existence is always taken for granted — as if they are mere spare parts of the construction machinery. But the fact is that they are human beings able to feel pain and sadness. They are also someone’s parent, child, brother or sister, and above all, they also have life stories to tell and dreams to fulfil.

Recently, thesundaypost spoke to two construction workers at a development site at Mile 10, Kuching-Penrissen Road. The duo — Tomasdidimus Pros (or Tomas) and Osbaldus Rion — come from Indonesia, which provides the bulk of foreign workers in the state.

They left home in search of greener pastures to give themselves, their familes and ageing parents a better life. Between them, they have been working in Kuching for nine years — Tomas (5) and Osbaldus (4).

Tomas, 31, hails from a village in Flores NTT, one of the Lesser Sunda Islands in the eastern half of Indonesia.

He said he decided to come and work in Kuching because the money he earned could buy him more things in his country. He also felt his present job gave the best opportunity to support his family back home.

His father is 72 and his mother is 64, and they are no longer able to work as hard as they used to on their farm. He has five siblings — three brothers and two sisters — and the youngest is still schooling.

Tomas only attended primary school. He stopped schooling because he didn’t know any better when he was young, thinking it was “more fun” helping his parents on the farm or doing house chores.

He has a two-year-old daughter and it’s ironic that because he loves her dearly, he has to leave her at home in order to work in a foreign country with the hope of giving her a brighter future.

His wife works as a housemaid in Kuching. As both want to have a better life for themselves and their little girl, they made the hard choice to leave their only child behind in search of greener pastures in a distant land.

Before coming to Sarawak, Tomas was helping his parents on the farm, which produced hardly enough vegetables and rice for the family.

“It may sound funny a rice farmer could still end up buying rice in town but that’s the reality for many small farm rice growers in my village,” he said.

Tomas misses his friends back home, especially on Sundays, when he would play volleyball or football, his favourite sports, with them.

He also sorely misses his mother’s cooking.

“Although our home meals are very ordinary and simple, mother’s cooking is what I Iike best.”

On his work in Kuching, he said it was “a hard life of sorts”, but pointed out that for people like him, this was quite normal.

What he cares about more is peace and safety at the worksite.

He said construction workers exposed themselves to all kinds of work-related hazards, so it is important to be very careful and alert at all times. Even so, he noted, mishaps do happen and he has been injured although not too seriously.

Indonesians form the bulk of foreign workers in Sarawak.

Good relationship

Tomas said he has built up a very good relationship with his fellow workers — not just as close friends but more like brothers.

“As foreigners working in a new place, you tend to stick together and support one another — more so if you are from the same country. Another thing is you are away from your family. So being together with your fellow countrymen is the nearest thing to family. At least you have someone close by. It’s when we fall that we miss our family the most.”

He said he and his friends share the cost of groceries they buy from a vendor, who comes round in a van, adding that they take turns cooking “very simple dishes” and eat together in the kitchen of their living quarters.

Their diet consists mostly of vegetables and they only have meat once a month because they cannot afford to buy meat very often. Sometimes, they would even go looking for wild vegetables in the nearby bushes.

Typical day

For Tomas, a typical day starts around 6am with a wash and a quick breakfast. Then it’s off to work, which begins at 7.30am.

There is a refreshment break at 10am, followed by lunch (possibly a nap after that), and tea-coffee break at 3pm before the workers clock off at 4.30pm.

Tomas felt construction workers, doing strenuous work, need to be given frequent breaks to enable them to work efficiently.

He said an exhausted worker may experience momentary loss of focus and, usually, that is all it takes for an accident to happen.

He is thankful to be working under “very reasonable” supervisors, who do not mind the workers taking a break when they are visibly tired.

“These supervisors know short breaks between work help the workers put in a full day’s work without feeling so tired that they cannot come to work the next day.”

Asked if he had any advice for his fellow foreign workers, he rolled his eyes, laughed a bit and replied, “Oh, what advice can someone like me give to others? Maybe I can just tell them not to forget their families. Be honest. Don’t get into trouble. And remember to send money home.”

Tomas wishes to see his daughter grow up healthy and with a proper education, even up to university, if possible, as he does not want his child to follow in his footsteps — poorly-educated without a good job.

He has not seen his little girl for nearly a year now and is looking forward to the day he can return home to see her.

Osbaldus Rion (left) and Tomasdidimus Pros left home to seek greener pastures in Sarawak.

Osbaldus’ story

Osbaldus started working in Kuching a year later than Tomas.

He comes from a family of five siblings — four boys and one girl. His father and mother, in their 60s and 50s respectively, are small-time farmers, growing a variety of vegetables for their own consumption.

Like Tomas, Osbaldus only had a primary education. Although he loved going to school — his favourite subjects were Indonesian language and Maths — he had to drop out because his poor family could not afford his school fees.

The 24-year-old was a road construction worker in his country before coming to work in Kuching.

He said he was attracted by the higher local currency.

However, like most foreign workers on their first job away from home, he was in “a very low mood” when he first arrived.

“I was sad and sometimes even cried. I guess I was homesick and missed my family very much. But now I’m okay.”

Osbaldus said he used to feel sad thinking of the times he spent with his family and friends.

“I especially miss going to the farm with my parents. It was fun cooking and having meals together there. Food seemed tastier outdoors.”

He said life back home was simple but happy. They had no TV and no other sources of entertainment. So when they were free, they would just lounge around the home chatting, joking and laughing.

Main concern

On his job in Kuching, Osbaldus said his main concern was his health and safety.

“Among the most common accident risks are falling objects and sharp nails. So I have to be very careful going about my work at the construction area.”

He said he once stepped on a nail, acidentally left exposed by some workers, but was fortunate the wound healed after treatment with medicated cream.

He hoped he would not fall sick because he said for workers like him, the ability to work is key to survival.

Osbaldus said another thing that worries him is police and Immigration officers coming to raid their workplace.

Although he has valid documents to prove he is working legally in the state, the sight of the officers still strikes fear in him. He has seen some illegal workers being deported or, worse still, thrown in jail.

“I don’t want to have to face that kind of risk. That’s why I made sure I have the legal papers. Still, I do feel anxious everytime there is a raid.”

All Osbaldus wants is to earn his wage and provide for his family. And he makes it a point to concentrate on his job and not do anything illegal.

He said the person he is “most afraid” of is his boss.

“It’s not that he is a bad person but personally, I would feel scared if I get scolded. I don’t want to be sent back and lose my job here.”

Osbaldus sends RM500 (1.5 million rupiah) back to his family every month.

He said when someone like him decides to leave home and work in foreign country, it is for no other reason than to earn money and support the family.

His advice to the other foreign workers, especially from Indonesia, is to never forget to send money back to their families.

“Don’t defeat the purpose of your coming here to work. Also stay away out of trouble, don’t be lazy and obey your bosses.”

He said that was the advice his the parents gave him before he came here to work.

“I’m now giving the same advice to my fellow workers.”

Both he and Tomas did not return home to celebrate Christmas with their families last year due to work commitments.

They held a simple gathering here with several other workers, cooking chicken and vegetables for their Christmas meal, and sharing their experiences of working away from home in Sarawak.

A group of Indonesians work together at a construction site.