Raslene

Her name is Liong We Ni. She is 56 years old and a housewife in the family. Her sisters live nearby, when I talked to her, her older sister passed by and handed her an oversized t-shirt with political prints. “This is so big, it could be my sleeping dress,” she said, laughing at the knee-length t-shirt.

 

She is from Surabaya and has lived in Kampung Tambak Bayan since forever. A very long time ago, once in Kampung Tambak Bayan, the houses were made of plywood and bamboo. Originally, the houses were from abandoned horse stables in the Dutch colonization era. But now in the past decades, her hometown, neighborhood, and surroundings are still almost the same, after all these years. Simple and small one or two-story houses, with tiny alleys, chairs in front of houses, and some noises. Few houses in the neighborhood that are sold, are now gone, being demolished by the new owners.

 

She left to Hong Kong in 2003 for economic reasons and she picked Hong Kong because she has relatives there, to feel safer. After 10 years, working as a nanny, shopkeeper, caretaker, and many more, she came home to Indonesia for good. Her children are big enough now and she can rest a bit. Now, as a housewife, she takes care of the house, sometimes selling things online. She made bakmi (noodles), pepes, or dumplings by order.

 

For her, life goes on. Everyday, there is hardship and fun, things shall pass. She doesn’t want to worry too much. As in the beginning of pandemic, she worries about a lot of things, but things always pass.

 

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In her free time, she might hang out with her sisters, neighbors, or someone she knows. They can sit in front of the house, inside the house, in her friend’s house, in her sister’s house, or on a cute blue bench on the terrace. The neighborhood is intimate, they can hang out anywhere as they please.

 

During covid time, she stays all the time at home. She doesn’t travel much after coming back from Hong Kong. In Tambak Bayan, many people were confused, they worried a lot about the economics. Not sure how they will face this emergency time. One day, when she cooked for neighbors, she suspected someone coughing with covid symptoms, and she was right.

She then protects herself and her family at home, also informs her sisters and others to stay safe. Later, she finally got it too, without the PCR test. Her sister also got it (by the test) and got medical help from the local government. Her sister shared the vitamins, masks, and other help during her recovery.

“Omicron one was so tough, I can barely swallow my saliva, it hurts a lot. Luckily here, we got the vaccines in RW (Hamlet, nearby the houses) but for a booster shot, we had to find it by ourselves out there. But it’s easy with the online information today.”

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“Hahaha I don’t know how to sing, but recently I listened to BTS songs a lot (my niece/nephew) played it. Other songs that I used to listen when I was in Hong Kong are Teresa Teng’s and Andy Lau’s.”

 

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August 2022

Notes from the writer:
This interview is a part of GEDUP from DELTA X: Conversations and Collaborations with Mekong Cultural Hub.

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I met Mrs. Liong in Kampung Tambak Bayan, Surabaya. I was mentoring a workshop there, walking and observing around with the participants everyday. One night, an old man, Mr. Giok told his father’s story, who came to Tambak Bayan in 1928. I then realized that there must be (at least) a migrant worker here. Then I asked the locals to find one, and the next day, I did a short interview. Though we are strangers to each other, when I talked to her, I felt she was very familiar as she shared the same pop songs that my mom used to listen to when I was a kid.