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.