The old port in old Jakarta
In the old port at old Jakarta,
There are colorful wooden old boats,
Still shipping cargo, back and forth
From Sumatra, Borneo, other part of Java,
Even as far as China and Japan.
Everything in this old port, is very old,
Except for the young men, referred to, as "coolies"
WIth their lean and strong brown bodies.
They get paid by the weight they unload.
A man can carry as much as 75 kilogram (165 pounds) Per trip up or down a narrow wooden plank,
Leading from the boat to the dock.
We are told that a group of thirty of them,
Can load as much as 300 ton per day.
They are not educated men.
They cannot read or write or even count,
So, they get a narrow wooden stick, every time they get off the boat,
Carrying heavy loads on their heads.
By the end of the day, they will get paid by the sticks they've accumulated.
They are busy downloading or uploading rice,
Or fertilizers, or tile, or coal, or asbestos.
Asbestos was declared deadly for humans,
Since it does not break down in the body, if inhaled.
Because it was proved to cause severe respiratory problems,
It was taken out of circulation in home's construction in the West.
But.....
What do you do with all the asbestos products that already existed?
And with the existing factories,
In a "profit first" society?
Well....
It was not actually burnt or destroyed.
Oh, no.
It was converted into a "new" product.
Here in Indonesia, asbestos is used as a cheap option for roofing.
It is made into hardened corrugated sheets
And used by the poor, as their "choice" roofing material.
You can see the kids playing with the broken pieces of asbestos roofing,
As you walk by the filthy canals that crisscross Jakarta.
A lady, was walking down a wooden plank
Leading from the old boat
At the old port of Jakarta.
"Women are not allowed on the boats."
Says our guide,
"Unless she is selling something"....
But she was not carrying a basket filled with sticky rice, wrapped in a banana leaf,
Nor any other lunch snacks
Nor cool drinks, served in a plastic bag with a straw,
She had nothing but a purse....
And high heels...
And her lipstick was not so perfect any more....
There are colorful wooden old boats,
Still shipping cargo, back and forth
From Sumatra, Borneo, other part of Java,
Even as far as China and Japan.
Everything in this old port, is very old,
Except for the young men, referred to, as "coolies"
WIth their lean and strong brown bodies.
They get paid by the weight they unload.
A man can carry as much as 75 kilogram (165 pounds) Per trip up or down a narrow wooden plank,
Leading from the boat to the dock.
We are told that a group of thirty of them,
Can load as much as 300 ton per day.
They are not educated men.
They cannot read or write or even count,
So, they get a narrow wooden stick, every time they get off the boat,
Carrying heavy loads on their heads.
By the end of the day, they will get paid by the sticks they've accumulated.
They are busy downloading or uploading rice,
Or fertilizers, or tile, or coal, or asbestos.
Asbestos was declared deadly for humans,
Since it does not break down in the body, if inhaled.
Because it was proved to cause severe respiratory problems,
It was taken out of circulation in home's construction in the West.
But.....
What do you do with all the asbestos products that already existed?
And with the existing factories,
In a "profit first" society?
Well....
It was not actually burnt or destroyed.
Oh, no.
It was converted into a "new" product.
Here in Indonesia, asbestos is used as a cheap option for roofing.
It is made into hardened corrugated sheets
And used by the poor, as their "choice" roofing material.
You can see the kids playing with the broken pieces of asbestos roofing,
As you walk by the filthy canals that crisscross Jakarta.
A lady, was walking down a wooden plank
Leading from the old boat
At the old port of Jakarta.
"Women are not allowed on the boats."
Says our guide,
"Unless she is selling something"....
But she was not carrying a basket filled with sticky rice, wrapped in a banana leaf,
Nor any other lunch snacks
Nor cool drinks, served in a plastic bag with a straw,
She had nothing but a purse....
And high heels...
And her lipstick was not so perfect any more....
