Fanfare for the common man: Jakarta's 'wong cilik'

The outdoor atmosphere in Jakarta is created by characters found at roadsides, not high-rise buildings or "dullsville" shopping malls.

What impresses me is the tremendous number of wong cilik (working-class people) who try to earn a living on the road.

Petty traders of all sorts -- street food vendors, beggars, street singers or "umbrella boys" -- are so visible, some providing much-needed services.

I have enjoyed talking to them and observing their earnest attempts to survive, albeit somewhat dishonestly at times.

Life in the capital is supported by its citizens -- 10 million ordinary people. If you look around anywhere it becomes very obvious.

These ordinary people make the city tick; like clocks, they are very useful, yet often unobstrusive.

-- Text and photos Tanizawa Soichiro

Caption A Bimo, a painter on Jl. Pintu Selatan, enjoys working with 30 other painters in the hustle and bustle of downtown Kota.

Caption B Hesami makes women's accessories in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta.

Caption C Yanto is an itinerant tailor.

Caption D A bus conductor "directs" the traffic to make way for his speeding bus.

Caption E Alim usually sells bottled water at Blok M bus station but becomes an ojek payung (umbrella rental boy) when it rains.

Caption F Wandering minstrels, Irfan and Samsoul.

Caption G Ojek sepeda (bicycle taxi) drivers wait for customers in the heat of the sun.