Harmony in People’s Market

Kompas/Ferganata Indra Riatmoko

A vendor gets a free health checkup in the Rejowinangun market in Magelang city, Central Java, on Nov. 3. The market, which suffered a fire in 2008, is now functioning optimally and offers various services to improve the well-being of its vendors. The market received the 2017 Anugerah Pancawara award for "Best National Market" in the category of "Markets with over 500 Vendors."

The face of Lastri, 47, was pale when she had her body temperature checked by the medical team at a health clinic at the Rejowinangun market in Magelang, Central Java. It had been three days since the vegetable vendor caught a cold and started coughing. Minutes later, she returned to her kiosk with medicine in hand.

“Fortunately, there is a health clinic at the market. I wasn\'t worried about leaving my kiosk because the medical check was quick and the place was not far,” Lastri said after the receiving the medicine on the morning of Nov. 3.

Being a seller at the market is time-consuming. Starting from preparation before dawn, sellers at the market normally work until the afternoon. They also often go to different places to find suppliers. That means some of them have little or no time to visit a health clinic when they are ill.

“Normally, it\'s hard for me to visit a doctor because the community health center is already closed in the afternoon,” said the resident of Tampingan village, Tegalrejo, some seven kilometers east of the market.

Lastri said medical services were very much needed by the vendors at the market. At Rejowinangun Market, the health clinic is located in a clean room opposite a meat vendor only 100 meters from Lastri’s shop.

Lastri asked a fellow vendor to take care of her shop while she visited the clinic. She had been waiting for the clinic to open, which provides services only twice a month.

The health clinic not only became a place to get medication, it also encouraged vendors to live a healthy life. They routinely had checkups even if they were not ill.

Kuryati, 52, a chicken meat vendor, was one of them. She usually came to the health clinic to check her blood pressure or to consult about healthy eating, especially when her blood pressure was too high or too low. “I\'m happy to visit the health clinic because it\'s free of charge,” she said.

Because the health clinic is inside the market, Kuryati could meet the doctor as if she were visiting a neighbor. She often visited the health clinic still wearing her apron.

Comfortable for all

At the Rejowinangun market, both the sellers and the buyers are comfortable. Besides the free health services, they can also leave their children at a day care located in the corner of the market, close to the office of the operator of the Rejowinangun market.

Established in 1986, the day care, founded by the Women\'s Organization Union (GOW) of Magelang city, ceased operations in 2008 when the market was gutted by fire. After renovations, the day care has occupied a new room since 2016.

Both sellers and buyers can make use of the day care so they can sell or shop without worrying about their children. Before the day care, children who shop with their parents would often get separated or lost in the crowded market.

Magelang GOW chairwoman Sri Redjeki Soelistiyono said initially the day care only accommodated the children of the sellers. However, due to high demand from customers and the public, the day care became open to all.

Occupying a 10-by-3-square-meter space, the day care\'s facilities are relatively complete. In addition to a kitchen and a bathroom, the space is equipped with mattresses, a nursing room, infant beds and a playground.

Aside from the health clinic and the day care, the market is also proud of its cleanliness. The traditional market is divided in eight zones, each manned by three cleaners that take turns working from the morning to the afternoon. The floors of each shop are swept and mopped twice a day.

The Rejowinangun market, established in 1982, was gutted by fire in 2008. The fire damaged 80 percent of the building, moving sellers to a temporary market.

After four years, the market in the heart of Magelang city was renovated in 2012 and resumed operations in 2013. However, because some of the former vendors had already established themselves in a new location, the available spaces were offered to new vendors, including sidewalk vendors in the Chinatown area next to the 2.4-hectare market.

Puji Lestari, 55, was one of them. She was very grateful to receive the free kiosk. Before the market was renovated, she sold her products on a sidewalk next to the market, enduring harsh sunshine and pouring rain.

Magelang Industry and Trade Office head Joko Budiyono said his office totally changed the concept of the seller arrangement. Whereas before the types of vendors were mixed, under the new concept the market operator now follows a zoning system. The sellers are located based on the type of product they sell, making the market more organized.

“A fabric vendor used to be right next to a meat or vegetable vendor. Now, it is better managed, better looking and not messy,” he said.

A comfortable market makes buyers happy. Indirectly, it brings more customers to the market and increases sales. Rismiyati, 43, a fruit vendor who has run a kiosk at the Rejowinangun market for 18 years, said when the market was messy she could only sell around 10 to 20 kilograms of fruit per day. Now, she can sell 40 to 50 kg per day.

Social glue

A clean environment makes vendors comfortable staying at the market. On the sidelines of their usual activities, the sellers take part in other activities such as aerobics. The idea came after several sellers complained about their health. After all, there were empty rooms that could be used.

“The idea to exercise at the market never existed before because all rooms were full of products and vendors,” Kuryati said.

Joko said amid competition with modern markets, it was time for traditional markets to improve its services. In addition, the markets also have a responsibility to act as a "social glue." The operator of Rejowinangun market, for example, held traditional art performances on every Pahing, a particular day on the Javanese calendar. The event also had some competitions including a merchandise competition among vendors and drawing and coloring competitions for children.

Thanks to these innovations, the Rejowinangun market won the Pancawarna Award from the Trade Ministry in mid 2017 for the "Best Traditional Market in Indonesia" in the category of "Market with More Than 500 Vendors." In the future, the market aims to be a tourist destination.

The Rejowinangun market will bring back the function of the people’s market, which has become a place to interact and form social bonds. It provides harmony in a time that our society desperately needs it.