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My passion of travelling has taken me to many places, including Indonesia. It is a country that is close to my heart because of its exotic beauty, friendly faces and diverse cultures.
Fresh from decades of dictator-rule, the modern Indonesia is climbing confidently in the chaotic sea of the free market economy.
Nevertheless, one thing that Indonesians are still struggling to eradicate is poverty. Strolling around the Jakarta city, it is obvious to see the anak jalanan (street kids), prowling around mindlessly amongst the busy roads and tall buildings. They live day by day begging on the streets.
It was very heartbreaking seeing young kids and sometimes holding a toddler, begging for a few Rupiah coins under the hot sun. Not to mention the danger of the traffic itself. For an outsider like me, it is easy to assume that the government and society are not doing their part to resolve the issue, but is it as simple as that?
My humble observation and discussion with some of my Indonesian friends makes me think otherwise. I believe it is a combination of a lot of factors.
Some Anak Jalanan are the genuine, hard-core poor who ended up begging on the street to survive. These kids have nothing left for them, abandoned by their parents, no shelter, not old enough to get a decent job, forcing themselves to the street. These kids are prone to abuse and exploitation, especially by gangs. These gangs would recruit these kids to beg on the street in return for a little food, shelter and protection.
Some are kids who just want a taste of the outside world. The idea of being independent without any parental control is tempting. These are mostly teenagers who earn a living on a street by either singing/playing guitars, or selling food/goods on the street. I came to know a friend who once ran from home and became an anak jalanan for two years in Bandung. He slept on the street, begged for money by singing, and even bathe in the toilets inside the shopping malls.
On the other hand, there are also kids who are used by their lazy parents to beg on the street. These parents are usually very poor and ignorant. Instead of working for a living to support their family, they force their children to become street kids. Worst is, when these kids do not get enough money by the end of the day, they will be punished. These kids have to sacrifice their education and future just to serve the needs of their selfish parents.
Nevertheless, with high unemployment and higher population growth, it is no surprise that people would have no else place to go except to the street. This is one issue that the government should take a deeper look. With growing income gap between the rich and the poor, city like Jakarta do attract poor Indonesians from other islands to find job opportunities. The over-crowded city may not be able to cater jobs to all.
In an effort to understand the plight of the anak jalanan, we decided to go further to investigate the lives of street kids. When my friend documented his meet with the street kids, he was surprised how tight-knitted the anak jalanan community is. There are kids, adults and a leader to ensure the security of the community. The street is their life, where everybody look after everybody’s back.
Ironically, the street kids community appeared to be ‘happy’ and showed the good side of living as anak jalanan. Without the responsibility of working or finding a job, they even received money and shelter from a local NGO. I was thinking to myself, their lives are not that bad after all. In fact, they refused to get off the street, saying that they are already used to such carefree street life. But in reality, the ‘happy’ faces could be just a façade. My friend saw them addicted to sniffing glue, smoking, exposed to bad influences and social ills.
The issue of anak jalanan will cause a huge burden to the government and the Indonesian society. The sight of street kids in a modern developing city like Jakarta is definitely not a palatable view. Besides, it is bad to the Indonesian’s growing economy.
The problem of street kids is a complex issue that should not be resolved simplistically by the Indonesian government. It ought to be holistic, involving all parties especially civil society groups. More over each cases should be approached differently based on the circumstances. Nevertheless, one thing for sure, these kids should be prioritized to get good education, no excuse for skipping school.
The recent hype of the anti-Valentine’s day Campaign by JAKIM and PAS Youth really spice up the love scene in Malaysia. I was amused to read the news because it managed to garner a considerable attention when all the news were devoted to the people’s protests in Egypt.
Then there’s the youtube vid of an Ustazah calling Valentine’s day and the immoral activities as a Christian culture. It’s saddening because the TV talk show that the Ustazah was invited to speak has a huge number of Malays tuned in to watch. Having that Malays in Malaysia are generally ignorant, submissive and will take word by word of an Ustaz or Ustazah literally without question, I fear that the idea of associating Valentine’s Day as a Christian religious celebration has already spread to the minds of majority Malays.
The problem with the majority Malay muslim society here, they do not dare to question the authority of religious people in power, more often bow to their power abuse and let them dictate what’s haram and what’s sinful. They do not even have the will to use their little pea brain to at least go against such stupid fatwas, moral policing or syariah enactment.
To add salt to injury, politicians are endorsing such action too, as can be seen with PAS Youth statement on Valentine’s day. PAS Youth could be fighting for more important issues like exposing corruption, promoting freedom of expression, interfaith coöperation, citizen’s right, etc, etc… Yet, news about them will only pop up on trivial and laughable matters like haram-ing Beyonce concert, haram-ing Valentine’s day, haram-ing beer selling at 7-Eleven, halal-ing the forming of unity government with the corrupted UMNO, etc, etc. It cheapens the whole image of PAS as JAKIM’s whore and BN’s lap dog. If they are serious about promoting the core teaching of Islam, then they should be attacking the core issues that is inflicting permanent damage to our nation and society (READ: Corruption).
And about JAKIM?
Seriously, they need lots of love. I have had enough bashing of those laughable clowns, they made my day every time they open their mouth. For those who are in the dark, JAKIM is an acronym for Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia or literally translated as Islamic Development Department of Malaysia. One thing I admire about JAKIM is their hard working spirit of moral policing. No one government department is as enthusiastic as them. I’d be expecting them to cheer up the sombre mood of Valentine’s day.
Funny is, I am no fan of Valentine’s day too. I guess me and JAKIM do have something in common. I do agree that it is an over-hyped, commercialized celebration rip-off for young love birds. I am a romantic at heart, love should definitely be celebrated everyday, where a price of rose is 1/10 of the price of rose sold during Valentine’s day. I have a feeling, that could be the point that JAKIM meant by haram-ing Valentine’s day, they understood the importance of being financially savvy in such bad economic times.
How smart!
The talk about the People’s Power has been a hot cake topic among the buzz in the Malaysian political scene. Thus far, the interpretation of the third force is narrowed to forming spin-off political party or Independent candidates of an ex-major party or a talent scout agency-like political movement. But have all that to do with the Third Force?
When we talked about the rakyat or the people, where do our power lies in this political realm? It is an irony that most Malaysians care less with the politics here yet still harbour complains and dissatisfaction with the whole political system itself. “corrupted, racist, and inefficient” is in the dictionary of ordinary Malaysians in regards with our government and politics. Where do we go then?
The 2008 General Election was a historical piece that truly reflect the voice of the people, but 2 years down the road, the voices had somehow became less and less prominent, instead is being replaced by the daily political squabble by various political animals.
Then there’s Egypt and Tunisia.
The power of the people should never be under estimated. It originated from just a single idea. As in the film ‘Inception’, once an idea is ingrained in the mind of an individual, it can spread like wild fire and can never be stopped. The idea of democracy in the Arab world has came to a new dawn.
I was amazed by the determination of the Egyptians in pushing for democracy and freedom. What’s more interesting is it is no Iran-like revolution, people from all over Egypt were protesting in peace, camping for days in Tahrir Square. They were motivated to democracy not due to any politician or individual (unlike Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini), but the idea of democracy itself.
The world is fast changing, with the instant accessibility of social media and the internet, it is hard for the establishments to control the minds of the people. The power of state is declining. The government may block the internet access or control the mainstream media, but with the ever changing technology, information is exchanging fast globally, the international community is watching the revolution every second.
The Egypt’s revolution is not merely an Arab phenomena, the event is altering the global politics as well. This may show that where borders are no longer an obstacle, an idea can travel in light speed half way around the world and perhaps inspire the people of other states too.
But why the idea bug hasn’t come to Malaysia, yet?
It seems like we are still caught in the political rat wheel, while every day, more and more Malaysians are immigrating overseas; the cost of living in Malaysia is getting harder; not to forget the increased state-radicalization of religion.
Nowadays, it is hard to feel proud of being a Malaysian. Seems like the grass on the other side of the fence is greener. Frankly speaking, most young Malaysians who can afford to more overseas are already planning their way out. It is hard to live in a city where the cost of living is rising faster, but wages are stagnant. Worst is the baggage of state-sponsor racism and Islamization. While the majority Malaysians (as in Malays) are still living in the dark ages in their little ignorant cocoon. With such bleak hope in our own country, there’s only 2 way out, to get the hell out of here, or to have a revolution.
Unfortunately, the mentality of any average Malaysian is still stagnant. They are caught in a delusional myth from the reality of our ailing nation. While our neighbours are reforming and growing, we are merely a blinded puppet to our elite political masters.
As a Malaysian, I do not want our country to be governed by a dictator nor a radical Islamist. I look forward for a true democracy, secularism and freedom of expression. It is high time for us to have our Egypt-moment too.
A stranger glances by
to a distant face far wide
Is love a fairy tale?
fades as the ship sail
Or a gem that’s worth the risk?
Where the heaven is an eternal kiss
You are my only exception
As we wander into the love inception
I miss you despite the differences
Perhaps love aches and paralyzes
my mind, my body and my heart
I desire your touches and hug
time is eagerly awaiting
Is this real my darling?
