If you have a mobile phone, chances are extremely high that the tin it contains comes from Bangka Island, the main site of my visit to Indonesia. (Click for Guardian article). Althought this alone is a arevelation, the story of what makes the tin and your phone possible as interesting as it is ethically conerning.
Virtually the entire island of Bangka sits on a huge tin deposit. This means that a person can simply go to their backyards and start digging for tin. Many people living on Bangka have done just that or have illegally mined vacant land belonging to the government.
Virtually the entire island of Bangka sits on a huge tin deposit. This means that a person can simply go to their backyards and start digging for tin. Many people living on Bangka have done just that or have illegally mined vacant land belonging to the government.
(Above) Bangka Island from the air reveals an island marked by tin mining. The light areas on the top of the picture show areas where tin mining has or is taking place. Lakes in various shades of blue are also the result of tin mining. (Below). Illegal tin mining off the north coast of Banka. These boats are equipped with vaccumes to extract tin.
Mining land in Bangka is lucrative. In an area where teachers make about $500 per month, a person can make five dollars per kilogram of tin, meaning that $500 can be earned in one to two days work. Illegal tin mining is dangerous however as hand-dug pits often collapse, trapping people inside. Even when rescued they emerge with limbs so badly broken that they must be amputated. One would think given the dangers of illegal tin mining, that the government would step in to prevent it. This however doesn't happen, despite the fact that the goverment owns the tin mines and smelting facilities. In fact, the government offers to buy illegally mined tin, which actually encourages illegal mining. The prices are even competitive because locals can also sell tin through illegal channels.
Bangka, has recently become its own province. This has been a great benefit to the Bangkanese as they now control all of the revenue from tin. This has brought great wealth to Bangka which is evidenced by new roads, five-star hotels, and numerous new mosques. However, there is a cost to Bangka's new found wealth. Prior to becoming independent, it was widely known that tin was abundant in southern Sumatra (Bangka's former province). However, it was widely known just how much tin could be had in Bangka. When Bangka became independent, many Indonesians from Java and elsewhere began to move to Bangka in hopes of gaining quick wealth. Once in Bangka, these families do not always gain wealth immediately and often have very young children work in tin extraction and smelting. The abundance of tin also has broad implications for education as many students see no purpose for school when they see their destiny, future, and fortune in tin.
The value of tin is assured by its widespread usage. The Chinese company FOXCON, maker of the iphone, is reported to get most of its tin from Bangka. Thus the tin in your phone is a long and tangled web of relationships that bring postives and negatives.
Learning the story of tin should make us all pause to realize how interconnected and complex the global economy is and how ethical issues are related to an object we carry around in our pockets every day.
Because I had known something about the abundance of tin on Bangka prior to my visit to Indonesia, I made it my mission to locate some tin. I asked my host almost every day if we could go to a tin mine. He would say, "Yes, sure", but then the day would pass and no tin. From our cultural training, I surmised that this was the non-confrontational Indonesian way of saying "no."
(Left) The tin that makes the phone possible.
Learning the story of tin should make us all pause to realize how interconnected and complex the global economy is and how ethical issues are related to an object we carry around in our pockets every day.
Because I had known something about the abundance of tin on Bangka prior to my visit to Indonesia, I made it my mission to locate some tin. I asked my host almost every day if we could go to a tin mine. He would say, "Yes, sure", but then the day would pass and no tin. From our cultural training, I surmised that this was the non-confrontational Indonesian way of saying "no."
(Left) The tin that makes the phone possible.
But on the last day, on the way home from a beach, the driver pulled over at an
area where tin mining had recently taken place. I took out a baggie and started
to scoop up some grey colored sand, which I was hoping was tin. Just then a
family drove by on a small scooter, and I asked if I was standing on tin. They
said no, and I asked if they could get me some tin (Temah). They shook their
head no and drove away. Two minutes later, they returned and said, there was
tin mining nearby and that they could probably get me some. They returned with
a few ounces of tin. Finally, I had achieved my goal.
area where tin mining had recently taken place. I took out a baggie and started
to scoop up some grey colored sand, which I was hoping was tin. Just then a
family drove by on a small scooter, and I asked if I was standing on tin. They
said no, and I asked if they could get me some tin (Temah). They shook their
head no and drove away. Two minutes later, they returned and said, there was
tin mining nearby and that they could probably get me some. They returned with
a few ounces of tin. Finally, I had achieved my goal.