Every dawn the wives blew the siong or bamboo canes pieces, to light the firewood. Smoke billowed inside the house then blew through a crack in the
boards. It woke up the ducks that caged under the rumah panggung. A plume of smoke made people inside the house coughed. Yet, it was also necessary to
smoke fat cow that had been purchased in previous month. The fat cow was hung like laundry hang-dangling above the fireplace, a traditional stove that
using firewood. It was their breakfast menu every morning. Coolies were not drinking Earlgrey tea or cappuccino before they left for working. Water of palm
sugar blended with jadam to energize them to work all day was their drinking.
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[My translation]
It is different because there is not any complain from husbands and wives, as it is mentioned in the English version. This version portrays the local habit that is
appropriate with their needs to work and also to eat. In my opinion, this is a unique local habit of the native which is not highlighted. Furthermore, there are
positive cause and effect related to what the wives do at the fireplace. For example, a plume of smoke that is produced by the firewood along the cooking
process is important to smoke the fat cow, which becomes their supply for breakfast. As for the drink, it is a wise choice. Water of plam sugar blended with
jadam is what they need to help energizing them to work all day. Therefore, a chaotic atmosphere does not appear in this version, as it is described as the
common habit of the natives.
3. The Daily Life
Besides the table manners, the routine activities are showing the different lifestyle of the natives and the company people. Ikal portrays the daily life of the
native which is controlled by the company’s siren:
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Tidak seperti di Gedong, jika makan orang urban ini tidak mengenal appetizer sebagai perangsang selera, tak mengenal main course, ataupun dessert. Bagi mereka semuanya adalah menu utama. … Ketika makan mereka tak diiringi karya
Mozart Haffner No. 35 in D Major tapi diiringi rengekan anak-anaknya yang minta dibelikan baju pramuka. Setiap subuh para istri meniup siong potongan bambu untuk menghidupkan tumpukan kayu bakar. Asap mengepul masuk
ke dalam rumah, menyembul keluar melalui celah dinding papan, dan membangunkan entok yang dipelihara di bawah rumah panggung. Asap itu membuat penghuni rumah terbatuk-batuk, namun ia amat diperlukan guna menyalakan gemuk
sapi yang dibeli bulan sebelumnya dan digantungkan berjuntai-juntai seperti cucian diatas perapian. Gemuk sapi itulah sarapan mereka setiap pagi. Sebelum berangkat para kuli itu tidak minum teh Earlgrey atau cappuccino, melainkan minum
air gula aren dicampur jadam untuk menimbulkan efek tenaga kerbau yang akan digunakan sepanjang hari. LP: 53
As for the Malays, they lived like puppets—controlled by a small and comical but very powerful puppet master called a siren. At seven o’clock every morning,
the stillness shattered. The siren roared from the PN central office. Immediately, PN coolies bustled about, emerging from every corner of the village to line up
along the side of the road, jumping and jamming themselves into the backs of trucks which would bring them to the dredges.The village fell quiet again. But
moments later, an orchestra emerged as the women began crushing their spices. The sounds of pestles pounding against wooden mortars incessantly echoed
from one stilted house to another, but when the clock struck five, the siren shrieked once again. The coolies dispersed to go home like ants fleeing a
burning anthill. And that’s how it went on, for hundreds of years. TRT: 42
It shows how the natives are always controlled by the company. The company’s existence becomes the standard of power, it is able to control many aspects of the
natives’ life. Not only in economic but also in social aspect. The natives are described as puppet that has being controlled by the company’s siren.
Since mostly natives work as a coolie in PN Timah, the siren becomes the sign when they have to begin to work and when they have to finish their work.
The main character shows that the natives of Belitung never free from colonization. The colonial rules are only has done by different colonizers:
After three-hundred-fifty years, the Dutch said “good day” and the Japanese yelled “sayonara”. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the happy ending for us, the
natives of Bellitong. For we were to be occupied in another way. Our land was seized once again, but in a more civilized manner. We were freed, but not yet
free. TRT: 40
Thus, after the Dutch and the Japanese, PN Timah as the state-owned company of Indonesian government occupies the natives. The company is represented as the
controller and the ruler for Belitung-Malays people “in a more civilized manner” . The company siren’s roar that control the natives Belitung who work as a coolie,
then becomes one of the more civilized manner on controlling their daily life.
4. The Education Accessibility
