The adage of ‘reaching for the stars’ has had a bitter outcome for Ni Komang Metri (44), a construction laborer from Tabanan, Bali. This woman was forced to bury her dreams of becoming a writer or religious teacher deep within, having only completed junior high school education.
Komang firmly upholds the principle of tusing ngelah rasa angayubagia (not having a sense of gratitude or being ungrateful) if she were to complain about undertaking work typically associated with men.
“I enjoy it,” she remarked, tears welling in her eyes.
Komang was encountered at an ongoing boarding house construction project in West Denpasar, a site she has been diligently working on for several months. There, Komang shared stories of her two-decade long journey as a construction laborer.
Every weekday, from Monday to Saturday, Komang rises early to tend to her family before embarking on her daily commute from her home in Tabanan Regency to Denpasar City. To arrive by 8:00 AM WITA, when her workday commences, she and her husband endure an hour-long motorcycle ride. Upon reaching Denpasar, they part ways to work at their respective, yet nearby, project locations.
At the 20-room boarding house under construction, Komang begins her strenuous daily tasks alone: lifting sacks of cement and sand, scraping and repainting walls, polishing door frames and doors, inspecting ceilings, and cementing damaged sections of walls.
Komang admits that physical strength is her only dependable asset for sustaining her family. “What can I say? For the last 20 years, my profession has been a construction laborer. If there are no projects, I usually stay home, helping people clean or make canang [offerings for Balinese Hindu religious activities]. Firstly, it’s due to economic factors. Secondly, I don’t have any skills,” Komang revealed to journalist Christine Nababan, reporting for BBC News Indonesia.
Komang earns a daily wage of Rp120,000 for her grueling work as a female construction laborer. However, not all of this income makes it home, as a significant portion is deducted for daily meal costs during work and fuel expenses. “At best, I can bring home around Rp60,000 a day,” Komang stated softly.
A different narrative emerges from Nengah Riadi, a female laborer from Kintamani, Bangli. This 38-year-old woman claims she has never aspired to any other occupation than her current one, which she has pursued for the last decade: a construction laborer.
No hint of sadness touched her face; in fact, her brown eyes sparkled as she spoke. “If you’re strong, you push through. If you’re not strong, you can’t eat,” she replied when met on a separate occasion last mid-February.
Nengah works on a subak (traditional irrigation system) project in Batubulan Village, Sukawati District, Gianyar Regency. Unlike Komang, who commutes daily, Nengah is provided with temporary accommodation and a daily food allowance. This arrangement is due to the longer travel distance and because Nengah’s husband also participates in the rice field irrigation system management project.
“I work here with my husband and bring our children (two children), so we are given lodging facilities. The distance is about one to two kilometers from the project site,” explained the junior high school graduate.
Nengah earns Rp100,000 per day. This money is quickly spent as one of her children, who is under 10 years old, constantly clamors for snacks. Nengah frequently leaves her hometown for work, typically for one to two months at a time. She then returns home briefly to rest, regain her strength, participate in traditional ceremonies, and resume her duties as a homemaker. The longest she stays in her village is three months. “If I stay in the village for too long, I won’t have any money,” she clarified.
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Another female construction laborer, Susilawati, known as Evi, from Situbondo, East Java, migrates to Bali as a seasonal worker. The 45-year-old woman works as a construction laborer alongside her husband. They are currently building a luxury home for a local regional official. Her tasks include mixing cement, lifting sand and stones, and demolishing concrete. Her husband works as a carpenter.
Similar to Nengah and her husband, Evi and her husband can save more because they are allowed to reside temporarily at the project site they are building. This eliminates daily transportation costs for activities like resting, cooking, and washing. “Money is only deducted for grocery shopping,” she said.
Evi receives a daily wage of Rp120,000. This wage is quite attractive compared to working in her hometown, where cleaning weeds or helping with harvests only brings in Rp40,000 per day. “My husband and I prefer to come to Bali if there’s ‘nukang’ [carpentry/construction work] compared to working in Java, where the wages are very low,” she asserted.
The Role of Balinese Women in Tradition
Bali, like most other tribal cultures in Indonesia, adheres to a patrilineal system, meaning family names and inheritance rights are based on the father’s or male lineage. However, according to sociologist and Chairman of the National Coordinating Council (Puskor) of the Indonesian Hindu Coordination, Ida Bagus Susena, women in Balinese households must fulfill diverse roles beyond their primary duties as wives and homemakers.
“Balinese women have worked hard since ancient times because their moral responsibilities are heavy. They must serve as heads of households in child education and as drivers of the family’s economic wheel, especially given the economic pressures and social factors where, in reality, many male heads of families cannot maximally provide for their families,” Susena explained.
Furthermore, he continued, Balinese women are actively involved in traditional and cultural spheres. Their role is even central, such as creating materials for ceremonial purposes, often done collaboratively in traditional banjars (community councils). Not only that, Balinese women also play an active role in religious matters, like preparing canang or banten (offerings).
Although Balinese society follows a patrilineal system, Gede Kamajaya, a sociologist at Udayana University, notes that Balinese women possess considerable autonomy in matters of marriage. If a Balinese family lacks male offspring, a woman can propose to a man, who then resides in the wife’s home (matrilocal) to continue the female family lineage. “This form of traditional Balinese marriage is called nyentana. This tradition is practiced when a female family has no male child, allowing the man to transition to the status of purusa [successor] in the woman’s family. The purpose? To continue the lineage and customary responsibilities [banjar] of the wife’s family, as well as to care for the female parents,” Kamajaya added.
Female Laborers with Dual Roles
Regarding the phenomenon of women working as construction laborers in Bali, Udayana University sociologist Gede Kamajaya states that modern economic factors compel women to step outside the domestic sphere. “From my perspective, it’s neither positive nor negative. It’s not forbidden for women to leave their domestic sector. Rather, women are demonstrating their existence by moving from the domestic sphere, which has always been associated with them, into the public domain, both formal and informal,” Kamajaya told journalist Christine Nababan, reporting for BBC News Indonesia.
The issue, he continued, is that men do not typically manage the domestic sector. Consequently, many female laborers work while simultaneously caring for their children.
Nengah, the female laborer from Kintamani, brought her two children to the subak construction project for approximately a month, forcing one of her children to miss school. “If I work, my children come along, no school. If I’m home, no one takes care of them. If I go home [don’t work], they go to school. Their teachers at school also know our family’s situation and it’s common, they understand,” Nengah claimed.
Meanwhile, Nengah’s 15-year-old eldest child also participates in the subak project. Both her husband and eldest child receive a daily wage of Rp100,000. Temporary accommodation and food are covered by the employer. Komang and Evi also experienced similar circumstances, though with a difference: Komang and Evi could still rely on family to care for their children when they migrated for work.
Currently, Komang’s only child is an adult, employed, and self-sufficient. Similarly, Evi’s children are married with their own families. Komang, Nengah, and Evi all found themselves unable to rely on their extended families. Even marriage could not shield them from hunger. To keep the kitchen fires burning, these wives must roll up their sleeves and join the workforce, even if it means toiling as construction laborers.
Gender Discrimination Still Exists
While gender emancipation in the workplace is no longer a nascent issue, the reality of gender discrimination persists. A survey by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) indicates that gender discrimination in the world of work continues, with a Gender Inequality Index (IGK) of 0.421 in 2024. The 2024 Annual Record of Violence Against Women (CATAHU), released by the National Commission on Anti-Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan), reveals that 52% of women do not receive menstrual leave, 22.6% do not receive full pay during maternity leave, and some experience gender-based violence, such as wage discrimination.
This inequality is also evident in the experiences of Komang, Nengah, and Evi. All three earn wages below those of male construction laborers. Komang and Evi, for example, receive Rp120,000, while their husbands earn significantly more, ranging from Rp30,000 to Rp55,000 higher. “My husband earns Rp175,000 per day. But he does different work. He’s a carpenter. He has the skill to make doors and frames. He doesn’t do general labor like me, so it’s fair that his pay is higher,” Evi explained.
Despite this, their workload remains disproportionate. Nengah must wake up at 4:00 AM WITA every day to cook and prepare breakfast for all the construction workers involved in the subak project. This means she prepares meals not only for her husband and children but for everyone on site. Nengah also has to prepare lunch and dinner, including washing dirty dishes. Furthermore, she is responsible for washing all her family’s soiled clothes.
“I work on the project from 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM WITA, but outside of the project, I cook and prepare food for everyone,” Nengah elaborated.
Sociologist and Chairman of the National Coordinating Council (Puskor) of the Indonesian Hindu Coordination, Ida Bagus Susena, believes that for Balinese women, working to support the family economy is swadharma (self-duty). In Hinduism, this obligation is considered an act of devotion and is sacred. Therefore, Balinese women undertake their work, no matter how difficult, with a smile and without complaint. “That’s why they consider it fair to be paid less than men, even if their work is harder and their hours are longer,” he noted.
Nevertheless, Susena rejects the normalization of this situation. He emphasizes that the government and all relevant stakeholders must intervene to champion the rights of female workers, especially those in the informal sector.
Consequences of Uneven Development
BPS Bali indicates that the regional government faces the task of ensuring more equitable development, given the increasing disparity rates. Evidence shows that the latest data for the Gini ratio, or expenditure inequality among residents, increased to 0.353 in March 2025, compared to 0.348 in September 2024. BPS suspects this disparity arises from differing expenditure levels between urban and rural communities.
Gede Kamajaya concurs, highlighting that the prevalence of female construction laborers in Denpasar City, Badung Regency, and Gianyar Regency is intrinsically linked to the high demand for labor, particularly in the informal sector. This phenomenon is a direct consequence of uneven development across Bali. These three regions are recognized as centers of government, business growth, and tourism.
“Many female construction laborers come from villages in Bangli, Tabanan, all migrating to Denpasar and Badung where there is extensive construction. Similarly, some come from outside Bali, such as Java. Yet, in Java, it’s almost unheard of for women to be construction laborers,” he added.
However, this fact, Kamajaya continued, refutes the notion that narrowing job opportunities are forcing Balinese women into construction work. “Limited job opportunities for skilled labor is one thing. But women become construction laborers because of inadequate skills, economic necessity, and their low education levels,” he concluded.
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Summary
The article highlights the challenging lives of female construction laborers in Bali, featuring women like Ni Komang Metri, Nengah Riadi, and Susilawati (Evi). These women perform strenuous physical tasks, such as lifting cement, mixing concrete, and demolishing walls, driven by economic necessity and limited alternative job skills. They earn daily wages of Rp100,000 to Rp120,000, often significantly less than their male colleagues, with much of their income spent on daily expenses.
Despite traditionally holding diverse and demanding roles in Balinese society, modern economic pressures and uneven development compel these women into informal labor. They often face a dual burden, balancing grueling work with extensive domestic duties, including cooking for entire work crews and childcare. Sociologists note this phenomenon showcases women’s resilience while also exposing persistent gender discrimination, wage inequality, and the urgent need for government intervention to protect their rights.