THE FORGOTTEN ONES

According to Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary, a hero is a person who is admired for having done something very brave or having achived something great. The people that we're talking about here may not be heroes according to the above definition, but for sure they're heroes for most of us. They're there to do their jobs, jobs that not many of us want to do. When everything is under control, these people are easily forgotten, but when something bad happens, they're usually the ones to blame. Well, whatever people say about them, they're some of the heroes in our lives.

Crossing Guard

Think about this job: a job that asks you to stay alert rain and shine, a job that requires you to work even though it's a holiday, a job that other people never think about if you do it well, but blame you if you make a mistake. Do you think you'd like this job? Would you take it if there's a vacant position for it?
Meet Pak Edy Darmawi, who has been working for PJKA since 1988. Now Pak Edy is posted at a crossing on Jl Pramuka as a guard. As a crossing guard, he has to be alert during his working hours. In his small office, there are two devices that are very important: a telephone and a signal tool. Both of them are used to show that a train is coming.

Bottled Water Vendor

When you're sweating in the heat of Jakarta, you'd be very thankful to see vendors selling bottled water. Sufinaldi or Aldi is one of them. Aldi, who comes from Pariaman, West Sumatra, has been selling water for three months to add to his income. He sells water during the day and helps his friend sell clothes at night. Aldi uses the money he gets from selling bottled water for his daily needs. So he can save his income from selling clothes.

Water-Gate Attendant

For Pak Ibnu, background knowledge and job don't need to be in line. As long as that job isn't a crime, he doesn't mind doing it. And his current job now as a Manggarai water-gate attendant has no direct relation with Economics Management, the major he took at Krisna Dwipayana University, Jakarta. He thinks it's too bad that many Jakarta citizens still like throw their garbage into the rivers. That makes the water in the river unable to flow properly. But when the rainy season comes and the water level at the water gate is getting higher or the area that surrounds the water gate is flooded, people tend to blame the water-gate attendant. How ironic!

Park Sweeper

Jakarta with clean streets and clean parks is always nice place to see. One of the people who work hard to keep it clean is Odin, or as people usually call him, Pak Odin. He is in charge of the cleanliness of Monas Park. He has been working there since 1977. Every day he has to work from 7 a.m. to noon. After a short lunch break, he's back to work until 2 p.m. Pak Odin comes from Cirebon. He's married to a woman from West Sumatra. They have three children. The eldest graduated from a diploma program, the second graduated from a vacational school, and the youngest one is still a junior high student. They all live in their house in Tanah Tinggi, Central Jakarta.