An Indonesian in PNG wants to buy Indonesian products, instant noodles in Australia, which are sold by East Timorese. That is one of the realities of Agustinus Wibowo\'s journey in "Indonesia from Across Borders".
By
AGUSTINUS WIBOWO
·5 minutes read
AGUSTINUS WIBOWO
A house in Ber, Papua New Guinea
Destiny could be only 8 kilometers away. That is the distance that separates Ber from Boigu, the distance between Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Australia. It separates one of the poorest countries in the world from one of the richest.
Ber, PNG, is a small village of about 200 residents, consisting of 24 houses, all of which are sparsely spread out stilt huts. One house is inhabited by 10, 12, or even 30 people. Nobody has shoes. Their clothes were very tattered and dirty because there have no changes of clothes. All around me, there were skinny, pot-bellied kids, O-legged kids, kids with arched backs like question marks.
There is no need to live in this poverty. Australia is directly in sight and Ber residents can cross there only with a letter from the village head. There, they can sell white snapper (barramundi) for a good price, 30 Australian dollars apiece. But they rarely fish and only do so when there is absolutely no food.
As a foreigner, I am not allowed to cross into Boigu, which is part of the Torres Strait Islands, Queensland,
Australia. Therefore, I can only collect fragments about Boigu from the stories of the Ber people.
AGUSTINUS WIBOWO
Children in Ber, Papua New Guinea
Boigu, they say, is a modern village with shops and an airport. The houses in Boigu are also on stilts, like in Ber, but are of permanent and more polished material. The native inhabitants live with white immigrants.
The natives of Boigu are Melanesian as well as PNG people. But for more than a century they have lived under Australian control.
Boigu natives receive subsidies from the Australian government every month. Each year Australia budgets about 30 billion Australian dollars to support the welfare of its approximately 700,000 indigenous people, including residents of the Torres Strait Islands.
In fact, the indigenous Boigu people belong to the lower class of Australia, but in the eyes of the Ber people, they are wealthy masters. Ber people often go to Boigu to work as day laborers serving native Boigu inhabitants.
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Australia and PNG have a special border agreement that allows residents of PNG border villages to visit Australia\'s outer islands in the Torres Strait. The villages that receive this facility are called Treaty Villages and Ber is one of the lucky ones.
But Australia has implemented strict rules against cross-border travel. It is forbidden to bring people who are not residents of the Treaty Villages. If they violate this rule, they can be blacklisted.
Australia also has strict quarantine rules, prohibiting any outside plants and animals from being brought into its territory. Ber people are only allowed to bring handicrafts, crabs, clams and snapper for sale in Boigu. Australian officers will board boats arriving from PNG and thoroughly search all belongings.
AGUSTINUS WIBOWO
Australian customs officials will recognize people departing from Ber, Papua New Guinea, by, among other things, seeing their feet covered in mud.
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At noon, Sisi and Marcella left for Boigu to shop. I asked them to buy sugar and a few packs of Indomie. It turned out that my Indonesian stomach still needed food from my hometown in the midst of an adventure in the coastal areas of PNG where the main food is cassava and sweet potatoes. Sisi said Indomie was available at an East Timorese grocery store in Boigu for 1.50 Australian dollars a pack.
I was amazed to think about how international this trade was! An Indonesian in PNG wanted to buy instant noodles from Indonesia in Australia, which were sold by East Timorese.
But the reality of globalization here was not as grand as its name. Australian customs officials could simply see the muddy feet of people like Sisi and Marcella and know right away that they must have come from Ber.
When they departed, I turned to follow the Ber men into the forest to hunt. They carried bows and arrows.
My bare feet were not used to stepping on rocks and gravel, making me wince at almost every step. Tens of mosquitoes and dozens of leeches seemed to really enjoy my blood.
"Any snakes here?" I asked.
“Sometimes,” said a 12-year-old boy. "If you meet a Papuan black snake, then it\'s over. In just a few seconds you will die. But if it\'s a small snake bite, all you have to do is cross over to Boigu for treatment."
"Isn\'t it expensive?" I asked
"Australia is a good country, all treatment is free," he said. “Once you get to the hospital in Boigu, you will be flown to Thursday Island or the city of Cairns, all at their expense.”
It is extraordinary that Australia is able to provide such first class service to poor rural people in its neighboring country. The Border Treaty is a gift that makes Ber villagers feel more compassion for Australia.
