Beggar in Indonesia, a profession?

…some of them seem to have been enjoying that living as a beggar is a kind of an "easy-money-making profession"...

What I had experienced recently really reminds me on what my friend had told me about beggars’ life in Indonesia...

Thanks to Arief “Ripe” Rahmawan for sharing his finding on the social study about street boys and beggars in Bogor, West Java.

It was about 9 a.m. I was in a small warung (small shop that sells daily needs) in Tuban waiting for the bus to Semarang. Sitting in the corner of the warung, was an old lady wearing dirty clothes. The first bus from Surabaya just arrived and stopped by a restaurant, next to the warung, for the passengers’ meals. The old lady quickly took a position, sitting on the ground near to the restaurant entrance, begging for money to anyone passing in front of her.

From the warung owner, I got information about this lady. She said that this lady lives quite far from the restaurant, definitely not a walking distance for an old lady. She has to spend about Rp. 3000.00 (US$ 0.3) for the transportation fee to get into this place (in front of the warung) every day just before 9 a.m.

Before going home, the old lady always sits in front of her warung to count the amount of money she has collected. That’s why the warung owner knows that she can get at least Rp. 75.000.00 to 80.000.00 per day. Sometimes she could earn up to Rp. 150.000.00 per day.

Big amount of money!!! said the warung owner with heavy tone to me. I can understand her tonal expression of dissatisfaction. The warung owner who’s also an old granny said that even running a warung selling sugar, rice, soap, and other stuff, she rarely can reach such amount of net margin within a day compared to the beggar who does nothing except sitting and waiting patiently begging people for money!!!

Surprising!? Let’s play a simple math, say the beggar earns Rp. 50.000.00 per day. That equals to Rp. 1.500.000.00 per month, an amount which is even more than the standard salary of fresh bachelor graduate in most places in Indonesia!!!

While waiting all passengers going back to the bus, I saw the first young guy gave the old begging lady Rp. 3000.00. Well, that’s already enough to cover her transportation fee. And that’s just from one person, from the 1st bus. The bus comes every 1.5 hour in average from 9 a.m. till 2 a.m. next morning. So, I guess, she can go back home anytime she wants from her “work place”. A home with 4 bedrooms and a proper family bathroom, described by the warung owner as she had visited her before. Doesn’t sound like a beggar’s property, huh?

This is only one example of a beggar’s life in Indonesia. Well, I’m sure that most of them are struggling to live their life and have no other choice to desperately become a beggar because of the situation that makes them to. However, some of them seem to have been enjoying that living as a beggar is a kind of an “easy-money-making profession” which requires an “art” behind that.

The art of acting! Yes, they have to act with a sorrowful expression when begging people. Bandage the healthy legs and pour some yellowy fermented liquid on it so then lots of flies attached in, try to make an impression of a guy with terrible illness that he can’t afford to cure it, hence expecting people’s sympathy and of course, charity! (Rahmawan, 2001)

Very often they exploit little kiddies, let them beg under the traffic light. The middle-aged women rent or borrow the baby of their group, intentionally let the baby cry loudly, and then they beg for money asking donation to buy milk and food for their “poor baby”. This art of begging can be performed in any public place, along the road, city corner, pavement, in front of shopping malls, under traffic lights, and other busy places.

Talking about exploitation, they even exploit themselves. I know that most beggars are handicapped, blind, or having other physical disabilities. However, they tend to dramatize their disabilities to draw people’s sympathy. I don’t know whether such thing can be considered as a self exploitation, or should I consider it, again, as the art of begging. One real example I’ve experienced was with a guy who has eyes disability, thus wearing black glasses, begging for money on the train. A donation box he brought was in his left hand and a stick for guiding him was in another hand; passing slowly behind a standing woman. He intentionally almost-dropped his body towards the woman, pretending that he hadn’t enough strength like other “non-disability” people had to restrain the train shaking. It looked really awkward to see his exaggerated action just to respond the constant train shaking. The woman just helped to stabilize him. I really noticed that he deliberately did that. I knew that! I had been noticing his behaviour, since he entered our compartment.

My friend who did a social study about street boys and beggars has visited their home. What he found was quite surprising him: a set of VCD player and TV in a comfortable living room, cell-phone...totally beyond his expectation!

Once, my friend saw a guy with a nasty appearance begging in a train station. Another occasion, he noticed the same guy, but with a proper shirt talking on his cell-phone in another train station!

From all points above, it seems that being a beggar in Indonesia appears to be the last easiest solution to make money. Lots of people from remote area, who are stimulated with the glamour of metropolitan life, come to the big city expecting to get a good job, good money, without well preparation or without being equipped with any skill to get a job. Eventually, they desperately start begging people. Very soon, they will discover the art of begging to earn enough money; just like the old lady I saw next to the restaurant. So, the art of begging = technique to make money? The higher the art of begging they can master, to more money they can collect, I suppose.

But, would that be a good future for a developing country like Indonesia? Would this lead to an effortless Indonesian generation that do thing without careful thinking or preparation? Or can “beggar” be considered as a title of a profession? What and where’s the best way to donate our money then? How can we trust that the institution doesn’t corrupt our donation?

Hmmm. Another never-ending chaotic social problem in Indonesia to discuss. May everyone be well and happy. –S–