Cisewu is my hometown, a place where I was born. Cisewu is situated in the southwest Garut, bordered with (Cidaun) Cianjur in the west and closer to Bandung instead of Garut as its capital. This is about 90 km from Bandung but 110 km from Garut. I lived and grew up there until I graduated from my high school (SMAN 12 Garut). This little town was, in the past, quite hard to reach because the road was not really nice. In fact, the mudslide often happens, hampering the transportation to and from the town. In fact, although it is located in Garut regency, not many Garut people know this sub-district due (probably) its remote area from Garut. As currently I live and work out of town (Bandung), I do not really follow the progress of my hometown. But I do come home twice or three times a year. It was pathetic, wasn’t it?
In the end of 2016, my wife, my kid and I have a chance to visit Cisewu. The last time we went here was in Ramadan 2016. We celebrated Eid here then. One thing that’s different from several months ago is the presence of a modern retailer as we pretty much see and visit in big cities such as Bandung. I don’t have to name it. By the way, it wowed me a little. This modern retailer is quite big for the level of my small town.
As everything has pros and cons, I see the presence of this modern retailer as an undeniable thing. Several years ago, the idea to establish it was rejected by most of the people here. But now, people accepted it. One of my aunties told me that the people around the retailer were given compensation (IDR 100.000) for allowing the store to be built and operated. Indeed, I was speechless when she told me so. The feeling of mine was mixed then, between I could not believe the reality and my stance of local economy empowerment. Which side are you on? Supporting the modern retailer at a sub-district level or against it? No need to answer :)
This piece of writing is not supposed to be long or serious. I just want to post this as a last post in the year 2016 or a milestone in this end of the year. Hope everything goes better next year. See you in 2017!