THE ECONOMIC LIFE OF SEBATIK ISLANDERS

I visited Sebatik Island in Kalimantan which is located in the most northern of Nunukan Island four months ago for field work study. The journey from Makassar City to Sebatik Island took approximately one week by Bukit Siguntang ship. When I Arrived in Sebatik Island, I saw the economic life of its societies. The economic life of Sebatik islanders is so apprehensive compared with that of Nunukan islanders that most of Sebatik’s districts have not encountered a significant advance of their economic sector. This essay will explain three issues of Sebatik’s economy, for instance the occupation of Sebatik’s people, the high prices of daily goods of Sebatik Island and the hidden smuggling of a few Malaysian goods to Sebatik Island. All of three issues will be explained in detail.

Firstly, people of Sebatik have various occupations. In informal job, the occupations of them are farmers, entrepreneurs, and traders. Commonly, their highest education is only senior high school. Most of them have a dissent life, while the remains of them do not have enough money to live. In formal job, the occupations of Sebatik’s people are polices, teachers, civil servants, and soldiers. However, people who work in the formal job are fewer than people who work in informal one.

Secondly, the other issue of economic sector in Sebatik Island is that virtually all goods have high prices there. This condition is influenced by the use of Malaysian currency as legal payment of daily goods rather than Indoneian currency. The value of one Malaysian ringgit is equal to 3500 rupiahs in Indonesian currency. It means that if people of Sebatik utilize Indonesian currency, their money will reduce because the pricing standard of goods based on Malaysian currency. Additionally, the factor of distribution also leads to the price of Sebatik’s goods to be exorbitant. Inevitably, the location of Sebatik is very far so that distribution of goods must use a ship. When those goods arrive in Sebatik, the real price of those goods must be added with the cost of shipping. Therefore, it is not quite awkward that the selling price of daily goods in Sebatik is twofold of its real prices for certain goods, for example medicines and mineral water.

Lastly, some daily goods in Sebatik Island, for instance gas tube, fuel oil, and rice are supplied and smuggled from Tawau, one of the districts in Malaysia. Consequently, scarcely are indonesian-handmade goods discovered in Sebatik Island. This condition denotes a prevalent matter for the inhabitants of Sebatik. Most of Sebatik’s people thank with the spread of some Malaysian goods into Sebatik Island. Even the soldiers who guard the boundary between Indonesia and Malaysia do not prohibit and castigate those goods. Moreover, the spread of some Malaysian goods into Sebatik Island was commonly caused by lack of Sebatik’s infrastructure and facility. According to the doer of smuggling, Pacci Basri asserted that Sebatik Island does not have a port and a gas station. Not having facilities like the port and the gas station, Sebatik’s people argue that the activity of smuggling is a must to fulfill some daily needs of Sebatik islanders.

In conclusion, there are three issues of Sebatik’s economy, such as the occupation of Sebatik’s people, the smuggling of Malaysian goods, and the exorbitant price for daily goods. The issue of the occupation of Sebatik’s people is not so essential to be noticed. Meanwhile, indeed the major issues of Sebatik’s economy are the smuggling of Malaysian goods and the exorbitant price for daily needs. Thus, local government must focus on issues of smuggling and the expensive price for daily needs and obtain the best solution for them.