Tukang Sayur Keliling A Dissapearing Trade in Jakarta

Tukang Sayur Keliling, the door-to-door grocer, is one of the few quintessential things about my childhood in Jakarta. Nowadays, it’s not as common to see them in the neighbourhoods anymore; with that, my memory of it slowly vanishes.

When I was much younger, our Tukang Sayur Keliling was a middle-aged, short guy with his signature black fedora hat to cover the harsh equator sun evidence on his tanned skin. He would be walking behind his vegetable-laden pushcart. He would appear on our street at certain times of the day, usually around the same time, which was evident by my Amma’s restlessness if he was not there yet.

Our household’s daily menu depended heavily on him and what he had for the day. I have these memories of her carrying her fresh bounties after stopping him in front of the house—different days, different nighties, different vegetables, but always one happy Amma. Fresh vegetables were significant in my childhood—except for Sundays, as he didn’t work on Sundays.

He also didn’t sell meat. Amma had to go to the wet market, sometimes with me in tow, subconsciously implementing my fascination towards slaughtered chicken and dead fish (cue Norman Bates theme song).

The Tukang Sayur Keliling was one of the constants in my childhood; with what felt like a blink of an eye, he was gone forever. Some time ago, I asked Amma what had happened to him, and she shrugged and said maybe he had retired.

But a few days ago, I learned from her that there is another Tukang Sayur Keliling on our street. She has been there for a long while, and my Amma has been a client for a long time.

But they are slightly different from the OG – for once, it’s a she. Also, instead of walking around with a pushcart street by street in our neighbourhood with a pushcart, she opened a pop-up shop by laying a mat on the street a few houses from my parents and is supplying the whole neighbourhood.

She does her business with a handphone, as in, she informs her clients if she is going to bring something other than the usual the next day, and her clients (my Amma included) can request specific items, including seafood and meat (yesterday, Amma brought back freshly made pastel she bought from her).

Her pop-up store opens from 7 AM to 10 AM or earlier if the goods are finished. I wonder what she does for the rest of the day. Does she do the same thing in different neighbourhoods in the afternoon or evening? I asked Amma; she said she did not know either but would suss it out for me.

My Amma talked about her like they were friends—Tukang Sayur this… Tukang Sayur that… I guess daily provision business aside, they kind of are. And I get it. Reliability, convenience, and familiarity are the things to hold on to in this ever-changing time.

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