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It's (not) all about money
A few months ago, a friend offered me a consultation job for a research firm in New York City. I said yes, and someone from the firm then called me up, explaining about the job.
What I had to do basically was filling in some forms, explaining a thing or two about Indonesian youth figures. It would probably take half an hour or so. The guy from the firm then said, "As for the compensation for this project, we'd be happy to offer you $250. Does that sound fair? Or do you have a higher rate?".
This might affect my rate in the future :) but fair?? Hell, yeah! :D
That was the second time I realized that the rest of the world treated a freelance writer like me better than my home country. The first time when I got an offer to write articles for this website, which pays US$20/100 words. Not bad.
Here, local media only pays around Rp 300,000-Rp 500,000 (around $30-$50) for a 600-800 words article. Only very few that are willing to pay Rp 800,000-Rp 1 million an article, or Rp 1,000/word. But some are for writing advertorials, which is not exciting.
I love writing but I feel that it's not worth the effort to write for local media. Hey, I have to pay bills too and there are several other mouths to feed (OK, I exaggerate). So, I choose to do other writing-related jobs that pay more, like editing, translating, copywriting and few absurd jobs but with good compensation :) The money is not bad at all, more than enough to live for a month and save up. The downside is when your clients pay you very late, if they pay at all :( Perhaps, I should start to think about hiring debt collector.
Recently, though, I found that I'm among the lucky ones as many other freelance writer/editor/translator out there are really underpaid. A friend, for example, only receives Rp 12,000-Rp 35,000 a page for doing translation! Oh man.
Even worse, another friend said that her friend was paid Rp 200 a page for proofreading a book. That's like, only two cents!
It's very disheartening. People are still unaware that writing/translating/editing requires talent, skill and craft, and therefore should be given proper compensation. A friend said that translating is not exactly an intellectual work. I personally prefer writing to translating but I disagree with her. It takes language flair and knowledge to be able to translate something. Doing translation has helped me improve both my English and Indonesian and I gain a thing or two about different issues.
Perhaps there should be a union or association of some sort to help improve this situation? It's not just about money. Well, it is. But for me, it's more about showing appreciation to a profession, to skill and experience. | Permalinks
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2007 © Hera Diani all rights reserved
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within this site are copyrighted
2007 © Hera Diani all rights reserved
Website design by loucee | illustration by Lambok Elvandri
Hera, if you check with the Indonesian Translator Association, they have sort of standard tariff for translation. And if join Bahtera at the yahoo group, you will find out that most of us are paid more than you wrote here... I think the only way you can get better money if you join up with other translators and amke your voice heard.
Posted by
Between Lines |
May 25, 2008 10:18 PM
Bar..aku punya site baru lagi di www.shintash.multiply.com
Mampir nya.. Dah aku likn oge :)
Posted by
Icha |
May 25, 2008 10:40 PM
Between Lines: That's good to know, cause I still hear many stories of underpaid translators/writers/editors. Thanks.
Icha: Sip, ntar gue mampir.
Posted by
hera |
May 25, 2008 10:46 PM
off course it's not always about money, otherwise there's no way you'll given me some free classes (ehm, corrected, it's only one session ya up to now hihihi).
Posted by
mellyana |
May 26, 2008 9:27 AM
That sounds good. I mean with your freelance jobs.
About underpaid workers, aku nggak tau banyak sih tentang copywriter/editor etc but temen-temen wartawan ajalah yang dari harian lokal (bukan koran kroco-kroco lho ya, yang lumayan dikenal lah) gajinya aja kembang kempis, kadang heran juga gimana ya mereka bisa survive dengan istri dan anak di Jakarta?
Posted by
the writer |
May 26, 2008 11:58 PM
Melly: Hayuh, kita lanjutkan lagi kursusnya :)
Eva: Itu juga tuh yang perlu di-highlight. Wartawan udah kerja bertaun2 cuma digaji Rp3 juta, dan gak ada asuransi pula. Di daerah apalagi, masih banyak yang di bawah sejuta.
Wadauuw, katanya pilar demokrasi dan reformasi.
Posted by
hera |
May 27, 2008 9:18 AM
Perhaps, I should start to think about hiring debt collector.
Remember me... I do that for a living :D
But a thought on this difference in pay. Can that be due to the difference in 'perceived' living standard? Meaning that a job in Jakarta sure pays lower because of the salary band, living condition, etc?
When I moved here, the company did an adjustment to ensure that I didn't receive less in terms of disposable income percentage based on the living habit of a person of my 'grade'. And I received an exponential increase (in IDR) which doesn't really mean anything because I live here. But the point is, can that be due to that rather than appreciation?
Posted by
Venny |
June 02, 2008 12:15 AM
Sure, living standard and so on contribute to the difference. But in many cases I found that it is indeed lack of appreciation (a.k.a pelit, gak mau rugi) that causes the low payment.
Writing article, for example. The media in Jakarta don't have that much money. But some are willing to pay Rp800,000 per article, but others only want to pay Rp300,000 excluding tax. Padahal media yang kedua bisnisnya lebih kenceng. Mungkin ada pertimbangan bisnis atau apa, tapi yg gue liat sih emang kurang ngehargain jasa penulis aja.
The same for terjemahan/ngedit. Dianggapnya itu kerja gampang yang harus dibayar rendah. Gue bandingin beberapa lembaga internasional dengan kapasitas sama, bayar terjemahannya beda2.
Giliran bule aja bayarannya laen, tinggi banget. Well, itu soal laen, tapi berkaitan. Karena gue pernah harus ngeberesin kerjaan orang bule yg hasilnya, secara mengejutkan, kacau banget.
Posted by
hera |
June 02, 2008 8:32 AM
Omong-omong soal gaji bule, jadi bete lagi waktu jaman dulu kerja di kantor lama. Bulenya yang nggak ngapa2in cuman sitting on their lazy bums in an air conditioned office, dianter jemput pake taksi bayarannya brapa kali lipat dari wartawan (yang backbonenya perusahaan), harus berpanas2 pake angkot, kerja dari pagi sampe malem, udah gitu nulisnya pake dicela-cela lagi.
Salah awak kah kalo bahasa pertama awak bukan bahasa Inggris? LOL
Posted by
the writer |
June 06, 2008 1:02 AM
Setuju, va. Pengen nulis soal itu tapi ntarlah, takut tone-nya gak pas dan jatohnya rasis hehe.
Posted by
hera |
June 06, 2008 2:14 PM
hey hera,ni tari temennya kenny, we met on Kings of Conv concert. I've been reading ur blogs secretly hahaha, gak deng, I read ur blogs now and then. Well, gw stuju bgt soal underpaid and lack of appreciation for writer/translator..., soalnya gw pernah mau ngerjain translation, dan this stingy company offers me 20rb/pages...and I said, go get someone else. Mreka blg sblomnya mreka pernah dpt translator dgn harga 20rb...hmm I wonder what they look like. Emang harusnya rate translation brpan sih? gw jd bingung sendiri....
Posted by
tari |
June 10, 2008 5:16 PM
Hai Tari. Kamu yang dulu kerja di Hai kan ya?
Tuh kan, emang masih aja ada yang nge-charge rendah banget. Anak UI aja nge-charge-nya Rp50,000/pages. Tapi ya namanya juga orang butuh uang, jadi banyak yang pasrah aja sama rate sekecil itu.
Kalo gue sih nge-charge-nya Rp200,000 per halaman. Bisa nego/borongan kalo yang diterjemahin banyak hehe.
Yah, rate yang cukup adil menurut gue antara Rp100,000-Rp200,000 lah per halaman. Atau ada temen gue yg nge-charge per kata Rp350, ada juga yang per karakter Rp75-Rp100. Itu bisa juga.
Good luck, ye :)
Posted by
hera |
June 11, 2008 7:21 AM
Yes yes yes, gw yg dulu di Hai...waaah thank god, am sticking with my price. Gw juga skitar Rp 100.000/page, makanya gw bingung bisa ada yang minta 25rb...hehehe mungkin seperti yang lo bilang. They're probably desperate =) padahal kalo dipikir-pikir kan yang rugi mereka juga....thanks yaw.
Posted by
tari |
June 13, 2008 2:50 PM
Hahahha,,setuju,,sudah saatnya kesejahteraan penulis dan translator diperhatikan... Padahal awalnya seneng jadi kontributor tanpa dibayar di majalah indie, numpang muka sama nama. Tapi lama-lama kayaknya ga "terbayarkan" deh,,,keringet2 reportase segala macem...d'oh!!!
Posted by
adirenaldi |
June 25, 2008 10:52 PM
Hera, it's Hotland. Totally out of context, but I was wondering how that New York job wound up :) Kinda curious, and up for that if fate allows, lol
Posted by
Anonymous |
August 19, 2008 7:34 PM
As for translating matter, actually we already have an association (Himpunan Penerjemah Indonesia/HPI). Ketuanya (terakhir gw tau) Benny Hoed. Tapi entah apa yang telah mereka lakukan untuk profesi penerjemah di sini.
Posted by
Daus |
September 20, 2008 11:42 AM
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