Beggars have own reasons 'to operate' during Ramadhan<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The beginning of the annual Muslim fasting month
\nof Ramadhan has, as usual, been accompanied by an increase in the
\nnumber of beggars on the streets and in the public cemeteries of
\nGreater Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Attired in their pitiable looking clothes, the beggars have
\ngrown in number over the past few days, as they beg passersby,
\nparticularly Muslims, for rupiahs.<\/p>\n
According to Islamic teaching, during the holy month of
\nRamadhan, Muslims are required to perform as many good deeds as
\npossible, including helping the poor.<\/p>\n
Thinking that the capital would be a gold mine during
\nRamadhan, many people from villages in East, West and Central
\nJava come to Jakarta hoping for pity from generous Muslims.<\/p>\n
A city official last week estimated that more than 2,000
\nbeggars from the three provinces would flock to the capital
\nduring Ramadhan.<\/p>\n
However, it is difficult to tell the real beggars from the
\nimpostors. There are many reports of beggars hiring babies or
\nchildren to attract sympathy.<\/p>\n
One can easily spot some beggars who apply red paint to their
\nbodies to imitate blood, hoping to increase people's sympathy and
\nreceive more money.<\/p>\n
However, when questioned, such beggars insist that they are
\nreally paupers begging money for their survival.<\/p>\n
The following are excerpts from interviews with several
\nbeggars currently operating on the streets of Jakarta. The
\ninterviews took place on Saturday and Monday.<\/p>\n
\"I'm here for my blind husband and two children,\" said
\n51-year-old Suminih, who claimed to be originally from Kediri,
\nEast Java. She was begging at the Karet Bivak public cemetery in
\nCentral Jakarta, dressed in a dirty gray, wrinkled kebaya
\n(traditional blouse).<\/p>\n
According to Suminih, she used to sell rice, sweet potatoes
\nand bananas in her village in Kediri, until she went bankrupt.<\/p>\n
In 1996, Suminih said, she headed to the capital and tried
\nselling vegetables at the Kramat Jati market in East Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"I was doing well and started lending money to people. But
\nthey never returned the money, so I went bankrupt again,\" she
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Suminih said that she then started to beg in Rawamangun, East
\nJakarta, where she earns between Rp 5,000 and Rp 6,000 a day.<\/p>\n
\"I only come here (Karet cemetery) during Ramadhan,\" Suminih
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
By midday, she had already collected Rp 7,500.<\/p>\n
\"Money is always good during Ramadhan,\" Suminih said.<\/p>\n
Good price<\/p>\n
On a sidewalk near the Mal Ciputra in West Jakarta, Ibu Ali,
\nwho was begging with her 16-year-old daughter Welia, said that
\nRamadhan is usually a good month for making money.<\/p>\n
By Monday afternoon alone, the two had already made Rp 34,000.<\/p>\n
According to Ali, she and her teenage daughter had arrived
\nfrom their village of Indramayu in West Jakarta early last week,
\nafter her husband had planned to sell Welia to a pimp.<\/p>\n
\"I don't want to see her sold there. I would rather bring her
\nhere. She can beg with me here until the end of the fasting
\nmonth, then I can sell her to anyone who can give me a good
\nprice,\" the woman said.<\/p>\n
Pur, 47, who collects discarded cardboard boxes, claimed to
\nhave other reasons for begging during Ramadhan.<\/p>\n
A mother of seven, she only earns Rp 7,500 a day from selling
\nthe cardboard boxes, but by begging during Ramadhan at the main
\nentrance of the Istiqlal Grand Mosque in Central Jakarta, she
\nearns at least Rp 10,000 a day.<\/p>\n
\"I just hope I can make a lot of money during Ramadhan for my
\nkids,\" Pur said, adding that her husband died of a heart attack
\ntwo years ago.<\/p>\n
Juminah, 60, and a 35-year-old blind man, who she claimed was
\nher son, had their own story.<\/p>\n
\"The boy lost his eyesight when he was an infant. He had a
\nfever and went blind.<\/p>\n
\"He's my responsibility,\" she said, pointing to Muryadi beside
\nher.<\/p>\n
Other beggars even admitted that their relatives were not
\nhappy that they were beggars.<\/p>\n
\"If my husband knew that I have come to Jakarta to beg on the
\nstreets during Ramadhan, he would beat me up,\" said Farida, 34,
\nof Cirebon, West Java, who was begging near the Buaran theater in
\nKlender, East Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Male beggars are often more creative than females in an
\nattempt to attract sympathy.<\/p>\n
Suparno, 17, for example, put black soot on his face, bandages
\non his feet and hands, and \"red wounds\" on his legs.<\/p>\n
\"It takes about one hour to make myself up,\" he said, showing
\noff his begging costume at the Karet Bivak cemetery.<\/p>\n
\"I use soot because I was in junior high school in Batu Ceper,
\nCentral Jakarta, and I don't want any of my old friends to
\nrecognize me,\" Suparno said.<\/p>\n
Suparno said he started begging because he was following his
\nfather, who became a beggar after his divorce from Suparno's
\nmother. (ylt)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/beggars-have-own-reasons-to-operate-during-ramadhan-1447893297",
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