Beggars overrun Lampung prior to Idul Fitri

Oyos Saroso, The Jakarta Post, Bandarlampung

Every morning in Ramadhan, Marsiah, 32, goes from street to street carrying her two-year-old daughter while begging for alms in Bandarlampung.

She is not alone. A group of six to 10 women are sent to the city by their husbands at dawn, returning home before dusk to prepare the breaking of the fast meal.

Marsiah and her fellow beggars prefer to seek their luck together.

Upon reaching a housing complex, they split up and knock on doors, saying the obligatory greeting: "Assalamualaikum (Peace be unto you). Please give us alms for Lebaran. Have pity on us, ma'am."

Beggars in their teens would be more likely to say: "Give us a Lebaran bonus sir, pity us sir, we wish to celebrate Lebaran."

Marsiah, who comes from Batuputu village in West Telukbetung, Bandarlampung, said that she is just a seasonal beggar. She only begs as Idul Fitri approaches. She normally works on a farm in her village. "I am forced to beg because I have to buy new shoes and clothes for my children for Lebaran," Marsiah said.

Marsiah, whose husband is a construction worker in Bandarlampung, said she was not ashamed of begging as most of her neighbors were also seasonal beggars.

"Well, there is no work in the village during this season. Rice paddy owners have not started to plow their fields because of the water shortage," she said.

Besides elderly men and women, seasonal beggars are usually housewives (30 to 50 years old), and underaged children.

Beggars like Marsiah must be somewhat creative, at least in determining the right person to approach, and how to approach them. Up-scale housing complexes are first choice, followed by common residential areas.

"Those living in wealthy neighborhoods normally give us more money, from Rp 2,000 to Rp 5,000. But we don't go there as Lebaran draws near. Usually they return to their hometowns two days before the holiday," said Marsiah, who receives Rp 30,000 to Rp 40,000 a day.

Neighborhoods that are considered upper-class include Villa Citra, Puri Way Halim Permai, Puri Gading and Sukabumi Indah residential areas in the Lampung capital of Bandarlampung.

Others prefer to beg at mosques.

"We normally beg for alms at the intersection. But as Lebaran nears, we beg in front of Al Furqon mosque before the breaking of the fast, as it's crowded," said Tursinah.

Al Furqon, located on Jl. Pangeran Diponegoro, is the biggest mosque in Bandarlampung. It is usually teeming with devotees during the month of Ramadhan as it is situated in the city center, near residential areas and offices.

Seasonal beggars usually have a few things in common: They carry a plastic bowl and wear shabby clothes and a sad expression. But recently, many of them -- mostly teenagers -- have employed other methods. They carry alms boxes painted in green with a picture of a mosque on each side. They usually go to traditional markets, following prospective donors around.

Rudi, 15, who dropped out of elementary school in Bandarlampung, said that it was easier to obtain alms carrying the boxes. Wearing a prayer cap and a worn shirt when met by The Jakarta Post at the Bambu Kuning market, he said he could make Rp 30,000 a day.

Poverty has been blamed for the rising number of beggars in the province. According to the Lampung Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS), of Lampung's total population of 6.8 million, 2.4 million are categorized as poor people.

In order to address the poverty, the Lampung administration has launched several programs, including the disbursement of soft loans for small businesses and scholarships for poor students, according to Lampung Deputy Governor Harris Hasyim.

However, he acknowledged that it would take some time before the poverty problem could really be tackled.