It's a hard life ...

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