Hoodlums told to find a better profession

JAKARTA (JP): Governor Sutiyoso said on Tuesday that hoodlums should find better professions and stop harassing city residents.

"Those of you who consider yourselves hoodlums, please change your profession to something which is legitimate," Sutiyoso said at City Hall.

"The city administration will do its best to create more job opportunities for all jobless city residents. There should be no place for hoodlums in Jakarta."

Sutiyoso was speaking in reference to an averted street brawl between two gangs on Sunday at Tanah Abang traditional market in Central Jakarta.

Sparked by escalating competition between the groups, dozens of local market hoodlums armed with machetes and iron rods were ready to have a showdown with a rival Madurese gang.

The Madurese were also preparing sharp weapons, when the arrival of dozens of security officers put a stop to the possibility of a brawl breaking out.

Eddy, a trader at the site, said members of the Madurese gang had been taking money for years from unregistered street vendors surrounding the Tanah Abang Market, and had never shared any of the money with the local hoodlums.

Unregistered street vendors, whose number is estimated at 20,000 in the capital, have repeatedly complained that city administration officials often threaten their lives when demanding payoffs.

Meanwhile, driver Rachman, a former preman (hoodlum), said Sutiyoso did not know what he was talking about.

"Nobody aspires to be a preman... when we are hungry, we will do anything," he said.

Rachman added that former governor Ali Sadikin would never have tolerated hoodlums.

"One day, my friends, most of them scalpers like me, were rounded up by Bang Ali himself. He slapped some of us and then rounded us up," Rachman said.

"He asked us what we were and we were so afraid of him, we told him the truth. He liked our honesty. He gave us jobs... from cleaning boys to street parking attendants. I'll never forget him." (ylt/asa)