Java photos on Flickr

A dokar is the jiggling, horse-drawn traditional cart found throughout Indonesia. The two-wheeled carts are usually brightly coloured with decorative motifs and bells; the small horses or ponies often have long tassels attached to their bridle. A typical dokar has bench seating on either side, which can comfortably fit four to six persons if the passenger are children.

Dokar or gig as one of the cultural heritage of Java provides its own characteristics in tourist spots. In Java Island specially Jogjakarta area, the are andong or delman, which is a bigger horse-drawn wagon cart with four wheels and sometimes pulled by two horses, designed to carry six adult people. Andong is different with dokar.

In the 1960s and ’70s, the traditional dokar, or horse cart, was one of the main transportation modes in the Java and Bali in Indonesia.

Over the years, as Indonesia has transformed into a modern country, the dokar has seen a massive decline in business, to the point of virtual extinction.

Since 2000, not more than 100 dokars were working in the Surabaya region, but today, only a handful remain, with numbers now standing at roughly 15. The city’s uncontrolled population growth has turned it into the most populated region on the city, and chronic traffic jams make it difficult for the dokar to work effectively. Cheaper motorcycles have also made the dokar obsolete, and parking spaces that were reserved for dokar in the past are being overrun by motorcycle parking. People prefer to use motorcycles to avoid traffic jams and carry produce.

Many kusir, or horse-cart drivers, have driven dokar all their lives as a family tradition, passed down from father to son. Given the challenges they face today, some kusir choose to look for work in areas like construction or to move their dokar trade to the city parks area.

Now, the dokar became recreational facilities for small children only. They driven around the district and the city park while listening to the tinkling of ornaments on the horse.

For Slamet of Probolinggo, a 35-year-old kusir who works in Surabaya, an ordinary workday starts at 8.00 a.m. and finishes around 9 p.m. and will see him take home around $8 a day. Time off for rest at 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Of his income, he had to share with the horse owners 50:50. He says, it is harder to survive and it’s a lot of work for not much money. He’s unsure if it is a profession he would like to see his son continue.

Slamet has been working as dokar driver since 2000. He did not bring his family moved to Surabaya, because the cost of living in Surabaya is much more expensive than probolinggo, his hometown.

Slamet have 2 children aged 10 years and 4 years.

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