My name is Theo, having my address at Gerung, West Lombok. I’m 30 years old. I currently don’t work. Previously I worked at the PT Felda oil palm plantation in Malaysia but I had to go home because the Malaysian Government ordered all workers who came from Indonesia to return home.

The Malaysian government has also ordered foreign workers from Myanmar and Vietnam to return home. We can understand the attitude of the Malaysian Government. There must be a reason. Even so, I had bad consequences from this. Every month I get a salary equivalent to 5,000,000 rupiah, now since August, I have no more income.

In Gerung I only have a garden plot where various plants grow. I can’t possibly expect the garden to fulfill our food needs, namely my Ibu aha and three younger siblings. Apart from that, I have a wife and two small children. I have no other choice but to become a laborer at Lembar Harbor. My type of work is loading and unloading goods onto ships or transporting them to warehouses. This work is paid for daily. I get wages every day, an average of 50 thousand rupiah. Very minimal, but enough to buy rice and fish. I hope this COVID-19 goes away soon.

Now I am looking for work as a shipman. It is so difficult to find that kind of work. If there is no other job I can meet, I will just work this kind as a harbor worker.

To the readers who read my story, remember to be very thankful to God for everything!

 

Editor’s Note: Ibu aha is the Indonesian reference to mother. See: Ibu  meaning