A Sheet of Paper and a Big Bet in the City

What I learned about migration, hope, and risk while observing newcomers arriving in Indonesia’s big cities

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

On the piece of paper, they usually only had a name, a vague address, and a phone number written, which they had to remember. It was small, but it often held great hope: the possibility of changing the future.

I began thinking about this phenomenon in the early 2000s. At the time, I was conducting fieldwork for my thesis. In between data collection activities, my attention was repeatedly distracted by people who appeared to have just arrived in town.

They looked different from most people at the terminal or station. They carried simple bags. Some looked confused, reading the signs. Some asked questions to strangers. Others simply sat there, as if trying to make sense of a city that suddenly felt so large.

At that time, mobile phones weren't as common as they are today. Digital maps weren't yet popular. There weren't instant messaging apps that made it easy to send locations. Many phones still had monochrome screens and polyphonic ringtones. Not everyone had one.

Therefore, a piece of paper is often the only guide they had when they arrived in the city.

This phenomenon came back to me when I watched various television reports about the Eid al-Fitr exodus and return flow of Jakarta. Every year, millions of people leave the city to return to their hometowns. After a few days or weeks, some of them return.

This journey home is known as mudik.

Photo by Alfandri Fitrahadi on Unsplash

In an article about *bogus redemption* , Muhtar Habibi describes how travelers often bring home stories about city life. Back home, they recount their experiences in the big city: work, entertainment, economic opportunities, and other seemingly promising possibilities.

Those stories rarely sound like tales of failure.

In contrast, cities are often portrayed as spaces full of opportunity, places where one can “try one’s luck.”

It's not hard to imagine what happens when stories like these circulate in the village. For some, especially young people struggling to find work back home, the big city begins to seem like a possibility.

In his research on *job struggles* among young people from eastern Indonesia, Fadly Ilhami describes a similar situation. As job opportunities in rural areas become increasingly limited, many people ultimately decide to seek opportunities in cities.

But that decision doesn't always solve the problem.

Migration often occurs without strong policy support to help them find stable employment. In situations like this, some people actually enter a more vulnerable situation.

As I reflected on my experiences in the field, I began to realize something interesting: Not everyone who comes to a big city has a clear social network.

Some came because they had relatives, friends, or neighbors already working in the city. But others came with almost no network at all.

Their preparations are often very simple.

Sometimes it's just a name to look for. Sometimes it's an address that's not entirely clear. Sometimes it's just a phone number memorized in the hope that someone will answer when they finally find a pay phone.

At this point, courage seems to play a vital role.

Many of them come with the belief that physical ability, a willingness to work hard, and a little luck will be enough to help them survive in the big city.

If we look at it from another perspective, the arrival of people like this also creates its own dynamics in the urban economy.

Jakarta, for example, has numerous terminals and stations that serve as entry points for newcomers. Some of those without social networks end up trying to survive in these areas.

I'm reminded of Parsudi Suparlan's research on the lives of homeless people in the city in the late 1980s. He described how some immigrants, lacking social support, ended up living around terminals or on vacant lots in the city.

Some tried to build temporary shelters, others opened small shops, and others took on various informal jobs available.

Their backgrounds are often similar: coming from villages with strong economic pressures and having had limited access to formal education or skills.

This situation makes it difficult for them to enter the formal employment sector in the city.

Photo by Robbi on Unsplash

However, from another perspective, their presence also contributes to the labor supply for the informal sector. For some small businesses, the presence of newcomers means the availability of workers willing to exchange their time and effort for modest compensation.

Sometimes the reward is just a bed, access to a bathroom, and a little sense of security in the middle of a strange city.

In such conditions, the dream of becoming a “successful city person” is often postponed for years.

Some end up settling for various informal jobs. Some may return to their villages. Others continue trying, moving from one job to another.

When I think back on this cycle, I start to see it as a kind of recurring bet.

Every year, especially after Eid al-Fitr, big cities receive another wave of newcomers who come with similar hopes.

Of course, the government has tried various methods to address this problem. Programs such as Village Funds (Dana Desa), Vocational Training Centers (Balai Latihan Kerja), and transmigration are part of efforts to create economic opportunities outside large cities.

But my experience in the field makes me ask: do we really understand what actually happens when someone first arrives in a city?

Bus terminals, train stations, and other transit points may hold important stories about how people began to navigate urban life.

Perhaps we need to see these places not just as transit spaces, but also as the starting point of a risky social journey.

There, someone might be holding a small piece of paper with the name to be searched for.

And on that paper, quietly, lies a big bet about the future.

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