Some opt to stick to their old ways, despite changing times
Abdul Wadot Syahroni, 41, concentrates as he paints the metal grid on top of a kerosene stove.
“The grid is important because it supports the pots and pans when they are over the flame part,” he said, while standing in his workshop located under a bridge at the Cawang intersection, East Jakarta.
“We wouldn’t want our customers to get covered in hot oil because the pan had tipped,” he added, smiling.
Abdul has a reason to be happy.
He received 30 kerosene-stove orders during the Idul Fitri holiday after experiencing a drastic drop in sales in the last two years.
In 2007, the government launched a program to reduce household consumption of kerosene and replace it with liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
“Before the government launched its program, I used to make hundreds of these because I’d be getting orders every day. Now I am lucky if I sell four or five of these kerosene stoves a month,” he said.
Abdul is one of many Jakarta residents who has decided to continue running a business widely considered outdated.
He sells 16-fuse kerosene stoves for Rp 60,000 (US$6.18), 20-fuse ones for Rp 80,000 and 40-fuse ones for Rp 150,000.
Abdul is the only stove vendor near the Cawan intersection still making kerosene stoves. Other vendors converted to making and selling gas stoves.
The government’s kerosene conversion program has been considered a success as more than 5.3 million households across the country stopped using kerosene this year, state oil and gas company Pertamina says.
Pertamina said the program had saved the company Rp 5.32 trillion in fuel subsidies between 2007 and 2008.
But such “successes” are irrelevant to Abdul.
He said he had continued making kerosene stoves because he wanted to preserve the skill and art that had been passed down from his father’s father.
Abdul realizes that his skill may no longer be required one day, which is why he has expanded his services to repairing gas stoves or other kitchen appliances, though he refuses to go into the gas-stove business.
“I can do other stuff and I get by. But I’ve been making kerosene stoves for over 30 years. It just doesn’t feel right for me to stop,” he said.
