A day in the competitive life of a joki

A day in the competitive life of a joki

Starting Jan. 26, the Jakarta administration enforced a new
three-in-one traffic policy, an extension of the 1993 policy. A
longer period and additional restricted zones has not detered
private car owners from defying the policy by simply hiring joki
to meet the quota of three passengers. Many urban activists have
ridiculed the new policy as an effort by the city to provide a
full-time income to the joki.The Jakarta Post's Urip Hudiono
spent a day as a joki for a streetside look.

It was 8 a.m. on Friday, a slow day even for the hectic city, but
several people standing along Jl. Gerbang Pemuda, Central
Jakarta, near the state-run TVRI building, were already offering
their services as joki before the three-in-one policy kicked in
at 7 a.m.

The one standing next to me, Fajrul, was dressed neatly like
an ordinary college student and sporting a black backpack.

Three other joki were also waiting along the street -- one
dressed impeccably in shirt and trousers typical of office
employees, though Fajrul said more would probably come out by 9
a.m.

Tougher competition, however, was already in view at the
nearby Jl. Pintu Gelora 1, about a kilometer from Jl. Gerbang
Pemuda. At least a dozen joki comprising men, women and children
were seen lining up the street in five- to 10-meter intervals.

"I'd be lucky to get just one customer today if things keep on
going like this," said Fajrul.

I quickly learned how joki make themselves stand out from bus
commuters waiting on the street: They move forward the instant
the traffic lights turn green, swaying their index fingers at
each and every passing car.

I got myself a customer, the only customer throughout the day,
a couple in a blue New Kijang minivan who needed a joki to drive
through Jl. Sudirman.

The anxiety as to what would happen next disappeared, as the
couple was polite.

Although there was a moment of silence -- particularly as the
car passed a traffic police inspection point at the end of the
road -- the couple then broke the ice with some small-talk. They
even offered to help me find a job at their office, and gave me
Rp 5,000 (58 U.S. cents) for my services, when we finally reached
their destination, the Wisma Dharmala.

Azril, a joki from Slipi, West Jakarta, however, laughed at
such job offers from customers.

"I was also offered a job once, but it was probably just
small-talk with no follow-up.

"I mean, just think about it. People riding such nice cars,
but who only give us barely enough for the return bus fare," he
said, adding it was a waste of time if he had to ride quite a
ways with a customer for the same chicken-feed.

But he was left with no other option as more people, mostly
unemployed, are taking to the streets as joki.

Turan, who was carrying three-year-old daughter Anik in a
batik sling, said she became a joki just to make ends meet, as
the income from her husband, who worked as a bemo (three-wheeled
public transportation) driver, was not enough.

She claimed she always made a fair profit of between Rp 5,000
and Rp 15,000 -- depending on the distance -- and the two were
always treated nicely by her customers.

"They sometimes even give bread or cookies for Anik ... The
fees they give me help pay the tuition of my older children and
sometimes some extra left over for their allowance," she said.

The small takings and the competition, however, are nothing
compared to the menace of continual -- and ever increasing --
raids from the Jakarta Public Order Agency.

That Friday morning, there were at least two agency trucks
patrolling the area in search of joki and sidewalk vendors. Each
time they passed by, the joki fled and slipped through openings
in the corrugated iron fences surrounding the Gelora Senayan
park, which is currently being rehabilitated.

"I was once chased by public order officers up to the nearby
softball field fence until I fell down the other side. Thank God,
Anik wasn't hurt," said Turan, who found help in fellow joki on
the run.

Although most joki work individually, they occasionally joined
forces and shared customers.

"It's just a matter of showing courtesy toward each other,
like giving customers to those who were here first and respecting
those who already have regular customers," said Adi, a joki from
Ciledug, South Jakarta, who said no hoodlums extorted them.

Adi, however, could not deny that the increasing number of
joki in the area these days made it difficult for him to pick up
four to five customers like the old days. He has no other job.

As the clock neared 10 a.m., a light drizzle began to fall.

Two child joki bought packaged iced tea with some of their
hard-earned money before disbanding with Adi and the other joki.

Cars waiting for the morning's three-in-one to end then lined
the streets in place the of the joki, who would come back later
for the 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. three-in-one.