Dinda
Sunday, June 18, 2017
Here's a profiling essay I did for my ESL 408 module. I lowkey did it in a rush, so I apologise in advance!
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Amidst a row of old, weathering but identical shophouses along Jalan Jaksa in Central Jakarta, one shop stands out the most with its jarring bright neon red sign with Mandarin characters that loosely translate to “Aunty Wang’s Restaurant and Takeout”. In contrast with this loud restaurant that does not quite seem to fit in with the surroundings, is the owner Dinda, who simply does not stand out with her 5 feet tall stature. When you first lay your eyes on her, you would assume she is one of the staff as she is dressed identically to them. She is dressed in a black pantsuit with her hair neatly tied into a long sleek ponytail and she greets every customer with a bright smile and cheery “Ni hao” when they walk through the doors. She even helps her wait staff with the serving of food during the lunchtime rush hour and cooks in the kitchen with her chefs on occasion. Rain or shine, even through natural disasters, Dinda always keeps her restaurant open for business. She is always the first to arrive, and the last to leave. She’s never taken a sick day throughout the 5 years of restaurant operations and only takes leave when absolutely necessary. The last time she took emergency leave was because she had to bring her youngest daughter to the doctor when she caught the chicken pox. The reason why Dinda manages to work everyday without neglecting her 2 children and husband is because they stay at the 2nd storey of the shophouse, which makes it easier for her to pop in and out to see them or have a meal with them. “Aunty Wang’s is one of my children too. I can’t bear to be apart from it for too long,” she laughs.
It is lunchtime and the restaurant is packed. Aunty Wang’s Restaurant and Takeout is a result of three shophouse units that have been combined into one restaurant. Seven massive red chinese lanterns adorn the length of the shop. Upon entering the restaurant, two shoulder-height Chinese lions greet you at either side. The entire 1st storey of the shophouse is filled with dine-in customers, and there is a line of waiting customers snaking outside at the five-foot way. Aunty Wang’s, as it’s known to everyone, is rated as one of the top 5 restaurants to visit in Jakarta on TripAdvisor and it is highly recommended that you book a reservation to ensure yourself of seats.
Looking at Dinda’s constant upbeat and chirpy demeanor while chatting with her customers, one might think she has had a smooth sailing and uncomplicated life without any hurdles. However, that was not the case. Her mother had passed away at childbirth, and her father found the thought of being a single dad too daunting that he fell into a state of depression and alcoholism. He lost his job and respect of his family and friends. Reluctantly, his parents took Dinda under their wings. Despite not having any parents around, Dinda had a relatively mediocre childhood. She received a good education, all paid for by her grandparents, clothes to wear, a roof over her head and never went hungry. However, good times don’t last forever. Disaster struck when an earthquake destroyed her grandparent’s house when she was 15 years old. It caused parts of her house to collapse and a massive beam hit her grandfather on his head, knocking him unconscious and eventually, killing him. Even though Dinda and her grandmother escaped unscathed, the death of Dinda’s grandfather took a toll on her grandmother and over the next few months, her health took a turn for the worst, causing her to become bedridden. Despite being only 15 years old, Dinda had to take on the responsibility of an adult and to make ends meet. Her grandfather did not leave much of an inheritance behind and her grandmother’s hospitalisation bills were piling up. With no other family to turn to, her maternal relatives were living miles away on an island north of Indonesia, she set out to find a job. It was difficult finding work as a 15 year old and eventually, she succeeded in getting a job as a factory worker with a miserable pay of 15 cents an hour. Dinda grew increasingly worried as the bills were amounting for everyday her grandmother remained in hospital and her grandfather’s savings were slowly depleting. It was somewhat a bittersweet blessing in disguise when her grandmother finally succumbed to her illness and passed away. Dinda had never felt so lonely before. This were the least of her problems though. Her grandparents failed to leave a will hence the government seized the house, leaving Dinda homeless. She then made a life-changing decision to work as a foreign domestic worker in Singapore. Even after hearing several horror stories about fdws being abused, she still decided to proceed with her plan as the pay sounded promising and she had nothing left for her in Indonesia. The moment she became Aunty Wang’s fdw, was the moment her future changed for the better.
Aunty Wang was a formidable elderly lady in her seventies who had suffered from a stroke, thus affecting her mobility. She had 2 daughters however, they rarely visited her and did not even give her money, even though it is common in the Asian culture to give parents a monthly “allowance”. Dinda was initially extremely scared of Aunty Wang’s overbearing presence however, eventually she grew comfortable with her and Aunty Wang taught her how to cook authentic Hakka food, through which she also learnt that Aunty Wang used to own a popular Hakka cuisine restaurant in Keong Saik Road before she suffered from her stroke. She learnt how to cook so many dishes, such as braised pork with preserved vegetable, drunken chicken in glutinous rice wine, and braised pig trotters, which was her speciality. In no time, Dinda was able to cook several Hakka dishes to perfection and when Aunty Wang’s friends came over for mahjong sessions, Dinda would cook these dishes for them and they would always comment on how succulent the meat was and that the dishes tasted as though they were cooked by someone with Hakka origin. They even joked with Aunty Wang that Dinda’s cooking was better than hers.
Dinda worked for Aunty Wang for 15 years and they developed a very close relationship, almost as if they were granddaughter and grandmother. “I loved Aunty Wang so much and when she passed away after her second stroke, it was as if I had lost a second grandmother,” says Dinda rather tearfully. Aunty Wang left everything in her will to Dinda, so despite feeling devastated at losing another loved one, she was definitely much richer now with her sudden windfall. She returned to Jakarta and thus opened Aunty Wang’s Restaurant. When she first opened the restaurant, it only occupied a single shophouse. She did the cooking herself and hired only two service staff to help her serve the customers and to manage the shop till.
However, news spread of this amazing restaurant serving Hakka cuisine and how it was cooked by an Indonesian lady who used to be a foreign domestic worker. People flocked to the restaurant and she soon realised she needed to expand her team as she could not cope with the cooking alone. She trained all the chefs she hired personally and over a span of 5 years, her team grew to twenty people and a single shophouse became three.
When asked what her future plans for Aunty Wang’s would be, she simply replies coyly with a smile, “We’ll see.”
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