Three-in-one kids help make up the number

Three-in-one kids help make up the number

By Prapti Widinugraheni

JAKARTA (JP): Imagine driving towards Jl. Sudirman during the
morning peak hour. You have an important business meeting and you
cannot afford to be even slightly late. And you're alone in the
car -- without much hope of escaping the sharp eye of the
policeman lurking around the corner unless you pick up one of the
"three-in-one kids."

In circumstances such as this, it's undeniable that one (or
two) of these kids can practically save your life when you have
no choice but to use the city's "three-in-one" traffic zone.

Ade, 13, and his friend Suyud Winarno are part of the long
line of "three-in-one kids" who loiter on city streets day after
day from 6:30 a.m. to 10 a.m., offering lone drivers, or
cars with two occupants, an additional "passenger" or two so
their cars may enter the "three-in-one" area.

Suyud, who says his age is "around 12 or 13", admits he has
been doing the "job" since the zone was introduced almost two
years ago by the city government which thought it a good way of
reducing traffic along the city's main thoroughfares.

Ade doesn't even remember when he started doing it. "Nobody
told me to do the work, some friends just took me along and
that's how I began doing it, since... I don't know... a long time
ago," he said.

Although things might seem easier for Ade who no longer goes
to school, Suyud finds the going rough as he still has school to
attend after he finishes "work" at 10 a.m., when the zone reopens
to all vehicles.

Suyud, who claims his favorite subject is moral studies, or
PMP, is a sixth grader at the SD Islam Al Fatah elementary
school. School for him starts at noon everyday.

"I would not be able to do this if I went to morning school...
if I enter junior high it will probably be a problem," Suyud said
with a sigh.

He admits he practically has no time to do homework except at
night -- when he is more than likely worn out.

Luckily, though, his house is in Pejompongan, Central Jakarta,
which is only a short walk to and from the "three-in-one" zone.

Ade, who lives with his mother and brother, has further to go
because he now lives in Ciledug, Tangerang, after his house and
hundreds others burned down in a recent fire in Pejompongan.

So how much do they earn a day?

"We usually end up getting Rp 3,000 to Rp 5,000, depending on
how much people give us," said Ade. In such a "business" the
amount of money they get completely depends on the generosity of
their "lifts", which ranges between Rp 500 and Rp 1,000 per lift.

"Once a lady gave me Rp 10,000 and told me to buy some
clothes. She said she felt sorry for me," said Ade with a faint
smile.

Foreigners however, Suyud said, are stingy. "Many of them give
me only Rp 500 for a long ride," he said.

The boys claim they set aside part of their earnings for their
savings, part for their own daily needs and part for their
mothers.

They also have to put aside Rp 100 or Rp 200 a day to be
submitted as levies to bigger boys who bully them at "work".

"They are mean. They tell us to signal for a lift and once we
get a car, they take our place. They often steal what they can
get their hands on while in the cars," said Ade.

Bullies, it seems, are not the only ones threatening their
livelihood.

"Police often catch us, or even run after us," Suyud said when
we passed a police officer, perhaps feeling safe that he was in a
car and thus "untouchable," but nevertheless lowering his voice.

The policeman gave us a quick glance to check the car had
enough people in it to enter the "three-in-one" zone.

Suyud claims he was caught once during a clean-up and was
taken to a district police office in Cipayung, West Java.

"I was told to scrub the bathrooms there and afterwards, at 12
o'clock, they released me," he said flatly.

Doesn't that make him want to quit "work"?

"No, we have to compete," Ade said, with a nod of approval
from Suyud.

Competition is a major thing for them, as more and more
children can be seen joining the ranks of the "job" where all
they virtually to do is sit back and enjoy a ride in a car they
will, in all likelihood, never be able to afford.

Now even mothers and their babies, young girls and teenagers
are getting in on the act as well.

"But they don't get as many lifts as us," Ade said, pointing
out the advantage of being small, under-aged, and innocent-
looking.

Although riding luxury cars is part of their everyday "job",
Ade claims his humble goal in life is to become a bus driver.

He seems to know full well there isn't much chance of him
going on to high school since his family's financial situation
can only provide him with an elementary education.

"My relatives are stingy," he said of any other possible
financial source.

A maths and science enthusiast when he was still at school,
Ade in a matter-of-fact way said he used to always be in the top
ten at school and even ranked first when he was in third grade.

Suyud, probably aware he has the benefit of going to school,
said he wanted to be a pilot or join the navy when he was grown
up.

"My family knows I am a "three-in-one kid" and they say its
alright. I don't know when I'll stop... maybe I'll be doing it
for as long as I live," Ade said.