WPPh --> ENTER (World Press Photo)

February 2008 | Edition Nine

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Forty-four year old Slamet is the railway crossing man on route 18 B at Bakin, Jakarta. He started in 1985, earning 7 US dollars, but did not become a permanent employee of the Indonesian state-owned train company until eleven years later. His present salary of 225.700 rupiahs (USD 25) means keeping his wife and three children is a struggle. But he never regrets his job, which is what he always wanted to do. Importantly, when he retires, he will receive a pension from the train company.