“You have to remember, companies have money. What do you have? Companies can bring the security forces. Will you be able to pay for lawyers if you were caught?”
Silence. The air suddenly got tense. Perhaps they did not agree with what I had to say, but the words have been uttered anyways. The fluorescent light could not conceal their anxious faces. I was uneasy myself, because I did not know how to solve the problem myself. Beads of sweat were running down profusely under my shirt.
“Lalu ahe nang diri’ panjawat, Bang?” asked Laurensius quietly, breaking the silence.
Laurensius Edi was a friend of Leonardus’ and also the host of where we held the meeting that night. Laurensius Edi would later became one of the eld facilitators for PNPM Peduli program organized by Yayasan Pemberdayaan Pefor Nusantara (YPPN) and Kemitraan. He asked in a local dialect, “so what can we do?”
Fortunately I could speak Dayak Salako, although I come from another Dayak tribe myself. Salako is used as the main language in informal daily conversations in Loncek.