Jakarta braces for 'bonek'
Jakarta braces for 'bonek'
Damar Harsanto/Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
"Bro, share the tofu with us, we're starving," said Prihadi, a
supporter of the Persebaya soccer team of Surabaya, to The
Jakarta Post after the game in Jakarta between his team and PSM
Makassar that ended in a 2-2 tie.
While eating the tofu, he turned to someone sitting next to
him: "Could you give me a cigarette?"
"You live in Jakarta, right? Could we stay with you for a
while?" the resident of Wonokromo, East Java, asked the Post.
Thousands of soccer fanatics have flooded into the capital to
support their teams in the quarterfinals of the Indonesian soccer
league.
Persija Jakarta, Persebaya Surabaya, PSIS Semarang and PSM
Makassar played their first matches on Friday, with the next
round of games scheduled for Sept. 21.
The supporters began arriving in the capital on Thursday
evening at the Pulogadung bus station, the Senen train station
and Tanjung Priok port. Their numbers continued to swell on
Friday morning.
Most of the supporters have no idea where they will stay or
how they will get food during their stay in Jakarta.
"We will stay here," said Prihadi's friend, apparently meaning
the Bung Karno sports complex.
Persebaya supporters have over the years gained a reputation
as soccer hooligans, or bonek, which stands for bondo nekat
(reckless people). They did that reputation no harm on Friday
night when a group of supporters became involved in a violent
clash with a group of armed supporters of PSM, known as Mac's
Men, at the sports complex.
About 2,000 police officers and military soldiers quickly
arrived in about 100 trucks and buses and managed to disperse the
crowd.
At least five Persebaya supporters, one police officer and one
soldier were injured in the violence.
There are unconfirmed reports that a Persebaya supporter was
killed in the clash.
With many of the fans arriving in Jakarta with nothing but
their team spirit, some began harassing pedestrians, street
vendors and motorists for money and food.
A group of supporters stopped several cars along Jl. Asia
Afrika and demanded money, while a woman complained that she was
robbed by a group of soccer fans.
A group of bonek grabbed a cellular phone from a woman
reporter from Elshinta radio, Trisnawati, who was about to report
live from the complex, and demanded that she give them money.
The first match between the host team Persija Jakarta and PSIS
Semarang was peaceful, and Persija walked away with a 1-0
victory.
Sitting atop buses and cars, thousands of supporters of
Persija celebrated the victory by parading around the city,
causing heavy traffic on the main thoroughfares of Jl. Sudirman
and Jl. Gatot Subroto.
Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso warned soccer fans to behave
themselves while in the city.
"I will not hesitate to have them arrested. And if necessary,
I will send them home," he said.