Thuggery is everyday practice everywhere

Thuggery is everyday practice everywhere

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The act of violence against Tempo is just one example of how
thuggery has become so rampant -- or perhaps institutionalized --
that many have raised doubts over law enforcement to eradicate
it.

For Jakartans, such a practice is commonplace, taking place
every day and everywhere, be it on the streets or inside an air-
conditioned and fully furnished building.

Tanah Abang market, Central Jakarta, part of which was razed
by fire late last month, is a well-known haven for thugs, who,
like parasites, take money from vendors and others who work there
to make a living.

A small-scale fruit vendor, from the Central Java town of
Jepara, told The Jakarta Post she never had to pay "security
fees" to thugs when she first arrived at the market several years
ago, but just a Rp 1,000 daily fee to market operators.

On Saturday, she was seen paying Rp 2,000 to three young men
in casual attire. The men, whom she said were members of a
hoodlum group, asked for money every week.

A vendor of Muslim apparel, who wished to remain anonymous,
admitted to paying a group of thugs Rp 400,000 per month for what
they called a "rental fee". In fact she, as well as other
vendors, leases the kiosk from the city market company PD Pasar
Jaya.

"We have to make additional payments, amounting to Rp 10,000
per day, in "security fees". Sometimes they collect the money
alone, but other times they come in a group of six," she said.

She added she was not afraid of the hoodlums, who were led by
a man called Iyan, although she did not dare skip payments too
frequently.

A thug, Sidik Hermanto, said he was a member of a gang known
as the Tanah Abang Family Group (IKBT). He had an "IKBT" insignia
on the back of his vest. Several other men were also seen wearing
the same type of vest.

"We have about 3,000 members who maintain security in the
entire Tanah Abang area," he said when asked why he and his
friends took money from vendors and public transportation drivers
passing the market.

IKBI, which has an office on Jl. Kyai Haji Mas Mansyur, is one
of several gangs of thugs that rule Tanah Abang market.

A minivan driver, who plies the route from Tanah Abang to
Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta, said, "the thugs are everywhere", not
only at stopping points but at every junction, where he had to
pay each at least Rp 500 (around 5 U.S. cents).

When asked about how much money he had to spend daily on
nonexistent services "provided" by the thugs, the driver simply
said, "It's all too much."

The thugs, at times, also demanded money from his passengers,
the driver said.

"There's nothing I can do about the presence of thugs in the
city," he added.

Another victim of thuggery, Titin, a food stall owner in
Bendungan Hilir, Central Jakarta, said in the past a gang of
hoodlums usually came to her stall and asked for food without
paying for it.

"They would ask me to serve them first, even though they had
arrived much later than other customers," she told the Post.

Outnumbered in a brawl with another Betawi (native Jakartan)
gang, the first, which had ruled the neighborhood, fled.

"Now, a new gang has replaced them in this neighborhood," she
said, adding that instead of providing them with security, the
presence of thugs only increased their insecurity.