Eastern Comma
It has been four decades since Eddy Joniwar left Sumpu, his native village that was located on the edge of Lake Singkarak, West Sumatra, Indonesia. As a Minang man, the spirit of Merantau –the act of migration- lies deeply within his soul. It drove him to wander around from the east part of Sumatra all the way to Java Island.
After several journeys, he and Sasnidar- his wife- decided to settle down in Indramayu, West Java, in 1986. He established a Minangkabau restaurant in Pantura, the most important economic route in Java that was built during the Dutch Colonialism era.
His success story became a magnet that attracted young men from Sumpu to come and work with him. Even after his death, his figure was not only remembered as a leader, but also a teacher who taught those young migrants to never give up.
Eddy Joniwar’s story reminds me to a classic Minangkabau poem that celebrates the spirit of Merantau. A life philosophy that supports young men to migrate, gather experience, learn new skills that eventually lead into one goal, prosperity.
Karatau madang di hulu ( Karatau and Medang trees grow in the upstream)
Babuah babungo balun (Not yet blooming neither bearing fruits)
Ka rantau bujang dahulu (Go wander around while you are young)
Di rumah baguno alun (Leave this home and be useful)
Merantau is nothing new in Minang society. This migration culture has been on going together with their matrilineal system for centuries. When wealth and family line is inherited to woman, man is left to be responsible to themselves, his family, and also his village. This situation pushes men to imagine a space where they could achieve prosperity that they need. Even though for some, the reality of living in big city make them realize that all is just an illusion.
Trough “Eastern Comma”, I wanted to explore Eddy Joniwar’s collective memory to re-questioning the definition of Merantau trough family stories, identity, desire, fragility, and the longing for the warm home the migrants have left behind.
The untold urge to explore, courage and the dream of an unseen places push the migrants to accept the new values that could be very much different from the place they were born. In the past, most of the migrants eventually returned back to their village. Yet now many of them decided to stay in the city, and merged together with the urban landscape, leaving their native village to deteriorate over time. In the end, this phenomenon supports my understanding that contrast is absolute. (2019)
