Money and politics

Money is something there is a lack of in Jurug. An average income is less than 600 000 Rupiah per month. For a month like February, with its many ceremonies, this is not enough. Therefore, many of the villagers have a reserve in the fields of teak wood, and they take a little extra from there to celebrate all the ceremonies. The people in this area mostly feel that they are too poor to pay alms, even though this is one of the five pillars of Islam.

What we learned about politics in Jurug is that no one is really interested in it. After our main informant, the school headmaster, quit as a Kepala Dusun, they had no one to do that work. But people still vote during elections, and the political parties do come to the village before elections to tell them false promises. But they mainly get the people’s votes because it is illegal not to vote.

We also learned that the locals don’t really like the government, much because they never help the locals with problems and they are not willing to listen to the people.

One exception, though, was after the earthquake in 2006. Still, in general, the people in Jurug are optimistic for the future.

People are not very enthusiastic about the western culture and moral. The school headmaster, for instance, claims that TV has a negative impact on the society, especially for the children. But he agrees that it is useful with television to watch the news. What was the fact, though, was that he regularly watched American soap operas in the nights.

The tourism does not get away any easier. The only positive thing the headmaster could say about that matter was that the infrastructure in the area would improve. Otherwise, he was afraid of the low moral the tourists would bring with them.

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