In Reply to: giving money to beggars posted by gadisdesa on Tuesday, 11. September 2007 at 21:33 Bali Time:
from a Jakarta expat
sorry I have just gotten to post a reply myself :)
this article is a load of crap. Yes you have beggars on the street, and I should be in jail right now, because I have 1000 rupiah to some guy at the traffic lights last night.
Why do I think its crap? Because like everything else the government decides, will FAIL. Why? Because for example,
no smoking on the main streets in Jakarta,
or motorbikes in Jakarta must stay to the left of the roads at all times...
they stop and fine people for a couple of months then its forgotten about... this will be the same.
The first city to do this was Medan in North Sumatra. I have no idea how its been going tho
Im just wondering, in the lead up to lebaran at the end of the fasting month which starts this Thursday, there are many beggars that come out of the woodworks (more than normal) looking for free food and money. Even when we travelled from Jakarta to Jogja once, there are beggars lined up along the roads in the middle of the jungles looking for handouts from the people travelling home at that time of year.
But people will give it, not because they feel sorry for these people, but because its a part of "being a good moslem during the fasting month" thats the only reason.
I see the same beggars every night going home from work at the same place. People who are passing the same place regularly enough will notice this, and eventually ignore these people. I do. Why should I have to give the same person money every night??
Even then, if they are carrying babies, they are usually rented from other people, for about 5000 rupiah per day (was on a tv show once) but the mothers dont care, because it buys the babies milk for the day.
Or you have the street thug that controls the traffic lights and the surrounding area, waiting out of site, to get their "cut" from the beggars... most people just dont see it or hear about it.
Also you have the scammers, pretending to be blind, pretending they cant walk etc etc... you can pick these people out so easily. (to the trained eye anyway)
anyway thats my thoughts for the moment