Ringgit Indonesia

In one of the most interesting stories from Pramoedya Ananta Toer's Tales from Jakarta entitled "News from Kebajoran", the protagonist Aminah, a streetwalker, plies her trade nightly at what is today's Medan Merdeka area. The story is set in the 1950s.

I was surprised to find out in the story that a local coin called "ringgit" was being used then. One ringgit was equivalent to two-and-a-half rupiah, the amount that Aminah charges her customer. I did some asking around: some old-timers do remember the ringgit coin that was being used. Last weekend I wanted to seek out this "Ringgit Indonesia" at the National Museum numismatic collection, but unfortunately that particular section was closed for renovations.

Nowadays it is hardly possible to find any transaction that involves less than 100 rupiah, let alone two-and-half rupiah. During the Sukarno years in the 50s and early 60s, inflation soared to stratospheric levels. At one point, it even reached more than 600 percent!

In the mid-sixties, the government decided to devalue the currency and overnight 1,000 rupiah became 1 rupiah. Still over the decades, inflation grew. The Asian Currency Crisis brought further devaluation to the rupiah. Today 1 ringgit (Malaysia) is equivalent to approximately 2,500 rupiah--not even sufficient for tips to the tukang parkir (parking attendant) at Jalan Hayam Wuruk, where the ladies of the night prowl.