Jakarta, home to grey-area girls

Jakarta, home to grey-area girls

Fabio Scarpello, Contributor, Jakarta

While sipping a drink in some bars in Jakarta, you'll wonder. It
is like choosing from a well-assorted menu. Girls are everywhere.
From childish smiles, to captivating sultry looks with the
addition of staged sensual dances. Everything is on the list,
everything is on offer.

With calculated certainty within minutes someone approaches
you. The usual set of questions: "What is your name...where do
you come from... how long are you staying in Jakarta..." opens
the door to the world of the gray-area girls.

This is a world where there are no rules but only guidelines
and where the exception often becomes the norm. Little is said
but everything is implied. Rates aren't fixed but some sort of
payment is expected. Feelings seem out of the question but the
hope of love is always present. Money is what they are after, but
they can also be extremely generous.

Even their smiles and confident behavior are often deceptive.
Loneliness and low self-esteem are the only common denominator,
in a world were everybody is competing with everybody else.

But grouping them in one big bunch is limiting. The game is
the same, but there are different ways of playing it. Different
degrees of pragmatism, closely connected with the girls' age,
creates some sort of layers -- at least three. These are by no
means rigid; some girls move from one to the next within a short
time or depending on the situation. As fluid as they may be,
layers do exist, and differences are noticeable.

Hanna is 32 years old. She has been in the business for over
10 years. Her approach is very business-like. She is focused on
making money and saving for the future. In her world the clock
ticks fast.

Hanna belongs to the first layer. She sleeps with any paying
customer regardless of age, color, religion or looks. Rates for
first-layer girls vary, depending on the length of time spent
with the customer and the meeting point.

A customer picked up in one of the main hotel bars is expected
to pay more than someone met in a club. The minimum rate starts
at around Rp 300,000 (US$32.6) -- for a couple of hours -- and
goes up to US$150.

Girls have their usual spot. Age and looks tend to play a part
in natural selection, with the most attractive gaining the best
locations including bars at star-rated hotels.

Jenny, Lulu, Yanti and Louise belong to the second layer. Bule
(Westerners) are their only target. Locals or even black men are
not considered. While the "one night stand" still happens, their
preferred approach is different. What they are after is a pseudo-
relationship with tourists for the length of their stay.

During such a time they get looked after, and a sort of "gift"
is expected at the end. But the lingering hope of something
permanent at times inverts the rules of the game. It isn't
uncommon that a nice but poor bule is the target of their
attention, with the girl paying for the entertainment.

Either way the dream of a better life is the driving force.

Some do manage to get married. Debby is on her way to Holland
while Shanty is due to marry in September with London as her new
home. Their exotic looks proved too much to leave behind for the
love-struck Westerners.

While these are the exceptions the majority jump from one
"boyfriend" to the next, and often, with time, disillusionment
leads to a permanent move to the first layer.

Anita is only 17. She has had a boyfriend for the past three
years. To her it is irrelevant that he is a 53-year-old
businessman, with a wife and two children back in Holland. He
pays for her and supports her family and this is what really
matters.

Anita is a classic example of the third layer. Girls such as
her are preyed upon by bule. An element of pedophilia is always
present, with these people pursuing fantasies that in their own
country would lead to extensive prison sentences and social
ostracism.

Anita spends a week a month with her boyfriend. Money keeps on
coming in and the hope of future security.

In reality, it is never going to happen and the only doubt is
how long it is going to last.

Jane was 14 when she met her "prince" in a shopping mall; a
handsome 35-year-old Briton stationed in Jakarta. They lived
together but two years later, with two forced abortions behind
her, he left, without a word or a promise.

For her a move to the second layer was automatic, from here
the future offers little, maybe only hope.

Notes: All the girls names above were not their real names to
protect their privacy.