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'Harry van Yogya': From would-be mathematician to 'becak' driver
Tradition: The vehicles embody the philosophy of alon-alon waton kelakon, or going slow as long as the work is well done
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span class="inline inline-center">Tradition: The vehicles embody the philosophy of alon-alon waton kelakon, or going slow as long as the work is well done. JP/Indra Harsaputra
Although the becak (pedicab) has given way to motorcycles and cars throughout the archipelago, Blasius Haryadi left school to make a living pedaling people around the streets of Yogyakarta. He hasn't looked back.
Despite a grueling daily routine, Harry has written The Becak Way, a best-selling memoir of his life on the streets. He also maintains a blog for tourists about the city.
'Life is a choice. Although the profession of becak drivers has been even more sidelined by the growth of modern modes of transportation, I still choose to keep driving and to preserve the becak as one of Indonesia's cultural features,' said Blasius, commonly called Harry Van Yogya ' or 'Harry of Yogya'.
The venerable human-powered pedicab was said to have been developed by the Japanese in the 1860s and moved steadily south through Asia.
Becak are thought to have first arrived in Indonesia in Jakarta, then called Batavia, via Singapore or Hong Kong in the 1930s.
Others say the becak came to Indonesia by way of Japanese bicycle mechanics living in Makassar in the late 1930s, who modified unsold bikes into three-wheel vehicles known as roda tiga, or three-wheelers, which eventually were popularized as becak, from the Hokkien Chinese be chia, or horse cart, in the 1940s.
Becak use soared during the Japanese colonial occupation of Indonesia in 1942, which brought bans on private motor vehicle ownership.
In the post-war period, becak continued to be used, spreading throughout Indonesia. Records state that there were 25,000 to 30,000 pedicabs in Jakarta in the 1950s.
Since 1980, however, becak have been banned in Jakarta. Then-governor Ali Sadikin issued rules totally banning transportation by human power, limiting the operation of becak and subjecting becak-free zones to raids.
Becak were seen as the culprit of congestion, a symbol of urban backwardness and an inhuman means of transportation.
The government brought in 10,000 motorized bajai and minicars to replace the 150,000-or-so pedicabs in use in Jakarta in 1980. While drivers were retrained, their becak were dumped into Jakarta Bay to make fish breeding grounds.
Surabaya issued a bylaw restricting becak in 1973, imposing fines of Rp 10,000 (85 US cents) and a detention of six months.
'My father was also a becak driver,' Harry says. 'I started following in his footsteps because of our economic condition. At the time I had to earn some money to pay for my tuition.'
Graduating from De Britto high school Yogyakarta in 1988, he studied mathematics at Sanata Dharma University.
'I rented another person's becak. At first I frequently fell from the vehicle, which made my passengers angry,' Harry says. In the 1990s, Harry made a fair sum ' between Rp100,000 and 200,000 a day ' taking foreign journalists round Yogyakarta. Finally, he decided to abandon his college studies.
Harry, whose wife perished in the earthquake that struck Jakarta in 2006, takes pride in his work nonetheless.
Becak personify the Javanese soul of Yogyakarta, according to the late Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX, Harry says. The vehicles embody the philosophy of alon-alon waton kelakon, or going slow as long as the work is well done. 'Driving a becak is thus preserving Javanese philosophy and culture.'
Unlike as in other cities in Indonesia, becak thrive in Yogyakarta. The local transportation office said that the city had 8,000 pedicabs in 2010, including 1,500 plying Jl. Malioboro and Jl. Prawirotaman, the two main tourist drags.
There are about 70 becak associations in the area, each with 10 to 15 drivers. All is not well for the traditional mode of transport, Harry says. 'I feel very concerned about the many becak drivers shifting to the use of motorized pedicabs in Yogyakarta, called bentor [becak motor]. Such becak drivers are thus no longer pedaling.'
The environmentally unfriendly bentors might drive traditional becak drivers out of business. 'The emergence of motorized becak also undermines the status of Yogyakarta as a city of Javanese cultural heritage.'
Harry wants the Yogyakarta city government to preserve traditional becak, criticizing peers who exploitatively charge higher fares. 'The fares for foreign tourists, especially Europeans, can be higher, but we don't mean to discriminate against them. We charge passengers according to body size and weight,' he says.
Harry, the father of three and an active writer and blogger, has frequently been invited to speak at universities in Yogyakarta, to appear on local and national television and even to endorse cell phones.
'I have several cell phones and many clients call me to make orders. I'm also busily replying to my Twitter in the evening,' said Harry.
