Kata pengatar buku kumpulan cerita pendek yang telah diterjemahkan ke Bahasa Prancis karya Iswan Sual yang berjudul Echange Epaule Contre Bonbons (Permen untuk Bahu)
Preface
“Pretty girls and playboys” . . . . this would probably be the resumee of a discussion with an Indonesian, when the name “Manado” is mentioned.
After all,
there are more than 240 million Indonesians, and it is not easy for them to
explore their own country.
It might
seem difficult for a French reader opening this book to picture the district of
Manado. But thanks to the good job done
by Iswan Sual, it is not so. He accompanies the reader, patiently, narration
after narration through the joys and toils of daily life. The invitation to such a trip may seem
incongruous, but it is harmless, and bet
The short
flirt could turn into more during the bus trip. From behind, the family is
watching closely, and will maybe separate Kamang from his girl-friend, if they
think it necessary.
From which
social and cultural milieu does this suitor come?
Maybe he dreams
of the pale-coloured skin, which is part of the charm of the young Chinese
Indonesian girls.
The parents
cannot agree to such a connection.
The
inhabitants of Manado, who came originally from “The Empire of the Middle”
China, in antique times, have been living on these shores for a long time. They came originally to buy natural products
used by chemists and for cooking.
The temples
and pagodas are always crowded, and the different peoples celebrate the Chinese
New Year together and without resentment.
But perhaps
the boy gets a warm welcome. What are
his plans? Does he show promise? To get on in life, he best should learn a
trade away from the farming world, where the work is hard and without a
future. At the bottom of the social
scale, without land to rent out, one has to stay in the village and make
palm-sugar. It takes sacrifices to climb
up the social ladder: we must risk some ground, our good name, our money;
sometimes we get into debt more than is reasonable, in the hope of giving a
child a better life. (See: “How the State rewards our heroes”).
Diplomas
are the best way out of the rural world.
Nevertheless there is no guarantee.
Whoever wants to get to the top must wait and negotiate and elbow his
way into the high “Graal”, the administration, where the job is safe but
low-paid; there are ways of making a lot
more money on the side, while the system pays a low salary to the people who
serve the country.
That is
also the reason that many young people from the district have emigrated during the
past two centuries, hoping to come back one day rich and respected. Studying in a foreign country with a
scholarship, but without the prestige of being an air-hostess, cannot ensure a
better future. But it is necessary to
leave, in order to return. Moreover, not
all do return; some are victims of accidents (See: “a sweet revenge”) or of
their dreams, as these young girls sold all over the country for the charm that
makes their reputation. (See: “Who is
the child we are talking about”).
For the others, success is to show
ostentatious wealth and access to the luxuries of life.
An
alternative way to success: for a long time teaching has been a good way to
climb the social ladder, ensuring a position in local government, but also in
powerful government circles.
Those who
get neither the chance nor sufficient help are forced to return in shame to
their villages. They are no longer
suited to farmwork; their families wanted to spare them the toil, and made many
sacrifices.
Disappointed,
and without the hoped-for positions, the generations drift even further apart.
The parents
still cling to their community life, while the children dream of high life in
the city with all the luxuries. For
those who cannot leave the village remains only the clear-thinking wisdom of
Yosi, a long-standing bachelor. Like him
they prefer little love-affairs instead of marriage, which would mean being the
mainstay of a family as bread-winner or housewife.
As well as
the gloom lurking through Iswan Sual’s narratives, there are also bright and
cheerful parts.
In contrast
to the town and the working world, solidarity exists in the village.
Worn down
by Sente’U Kiaba’s witticisms, the colleagues help half-heartedly, nonetheless.
It is possible to be lazy and still reap the harvest with enough cunning. (See:
“a young lazybones”).
This too is
an element that Sual transmits to us, and which goes with the attraction of a
foreign country: the kindly disposition to foreigners (See: Sende’U Kiaba)
bringing tales of far-away countries.
The same applies to Sual, who tells us stories of dream places.
The
villagers there speak “ton
Dominique Maison
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