VOA慢速英语2020--An Online Market Grows in Indonesia

Rani Nurwitawati worked for 17 years at an Indonesian market research company and never thought she would lose her job.

But then the COVID-19 crisis struck.

"My brother lost his job, my sister got a 25 percent pay cut. And finally, I also lost my job," said the 41-year-old Jakarta woman.

Nurwitawati knew from her work that the food and drink business was resistant¹ to the economic downturn. So, she decided² to start selling food from her home.

But she needed to find customers, or people who would buy her products. Nurwitawati found an ally in Omah Wulangreh, an art and cultural community in Jakarta.

Before COVID-19, the community was the physical home of the Pahingan Sunday market. But when COVID-19 forced the physical market to close, the artists moved it online. The number of sellers at the market grew as space was no longer an issue.

Nurwitawati says she is now able to earn some money while she learns how to run a business.

"I have learned about networking, got new knowledge, and more people know my products," she said. "When I joined for the first time, it was really sad because there was only one buyer, after that it increased to more than 10."

She prepares baked spaghetti and mango sticky rice.

Parahita Satiti, 37, also joined the Sunday market. She had always dreamed of starting a business related to traditional clothing. When her employers cut her monthly earnings³ by 50 percent she decided to open the clothing business.

She started selling Javanese kebaya — clothing for women made of traditional Javanese batik cloth.

"This is a new business, but seeing the enthusiasm and orders from the Pahingan Sunday market, I think it will be a promising⁴ business for me," Satiti said.

The Sunday market is usually open once every 35 days, said Reny Ajeng, one of its organizers. By the third online event last month, there were 46 sellers. Buyers had one week to preorder products, such as traditional foods, clothes, and coffee. During one week, there were almost 500 products sold, bringing in about 25 million rupiah, or $1,770.

"To be honest, we are really happy," Reny said. "Our first mission was to make an online Sunday market since we can do nothing offline during the pandemic. But it turns out, enthusiasm is high, so many sellers are having high hopes."

Words in This Story

customers – n. someone who buys goods or services

enthusiasm – n. a strong feeling of active interest in something that you like or enjoy

mission – n. a task or job that someone is given to do

1 resistant   

adj.(to)抵抗的，有抵抗力的

参考例句：

• Many pests are resistant to the insecticide.许多害虫对这种杀虫剂有抵抗力。
• They imposed their government by force on the resistant population.他们以武力把自己的统治强加在持反抗态度的人民头上。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

4 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。