It's a hard life ...

Fortune has yet to shine (or may never shine) on Nurdin, 42, and his five-year-old son, Jamal, as hardship follows them and forces them to scavenge from leftovers to survive. The farmer and his son, who hail from West Java, have lived for two years in the area around Jakarta's main landmark, the National Monument (Monas) park.

Under open skies, the father and son sleep on a piece of plastic sheeting laid on the grass while sacks for used bottles are their shelter from the night wind. What they earn -- from collecting used bottles and plastic containers -- is enough to eat for that day, with nothing left for the next.

What concerned Nurdin most was Jamal's future, as he thought Jamal too young for such a tough existence.

Fate destroyed Nurdin's dream of making a living in riot-torn Ternate, North Maluku. He migrated to another island with his family on the government's transmigration program but his wife was killed during a clash in 1999. Earlier, Nurdin had also participated in a similar program to remote Irian Jaya but was forced to leave due to political turbulence.

Nurdin's hand-to-mouth existence typifies the tough life that seems to have pursued him wherever he goes.

Text and photos by P.J. Leo