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.