REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - Life is simple, it's just not easy. The popular quote may resembles exactly word by word to Unang (42 years), who works as a grave digger. In his lucky night, he can sleep in a hut located in a grave complex in Utan Kayu, Jakarta. Yet, he must prepare to sleep on the ground, when the hut is occupied by someone else.
He would never dream of being a grave digger. But he did not have other choice when he moved from Bogor to seek a better life in Jakarta.
At the beginning, Unang found his work was difficult. During the night, he guarded the small office in the grave complex. Without mat to sleep on, he protected himself from chilly and windy night with a piece of batik -the unused cloth is used to wrap the dead before he/she gets burried. “I have no choice. It’s better than getting chilly,” Unang said to Republika, recently. He laughed, though.
Then he explained his job. Using his old hoe, he digs the ground approximately 1.3-1.5 meter depth. Then he tidies up the grave bank using a shovel. For each grave he digs, he usually makes 2x1 meters square. “I kniw how to do it, I don’t need any measurement. It’s like a habit,” he said.
The next, he will wait the dead to be buried. He is free for a while, since the burial process usually handled by the family of the dead. But, Unang has other job to do: maintaining the graves and cutting the grass.
Asked about salary, he was a bit silent. There is no regular salary for him, so he depends on tips only. “Today, I have just got six thousand IDR,” Unang kept smile. The biggest tip he has ever had is 100 thousand IDR.
For maintaining a grave, the family of the dead must pay 10 thousand per month. Yet, they often neglect to pay it. “We’re just common people, we do not deserve to protest anybody,” Unang added. As he never thinks to quit the job, he keeps maintaining the graves complex instead.
He believes, God always treat him fairly. Without regular salary, he can still feed his wife and his three children. His two children are school dropouts, now he is struggling to keep the youngest child to go to school. “God alwyas protect us and the angels always help,” he firmly said.
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