When Friday prayers ended, 5-year old Komang Abon stood and approached the congregation as they were about to leave the mosque. The little boy lifted his right hand, his palm opened in the age-old gesture of asking for alms.
Two or three Muslims moved forward and placed coins on Abon’s palm.
From a distance, his older sister, 7-year-old Luh Sari, watched as Abon made his way through waves of devotees as they flowed out of the mosque in Denpasar’s Sudirman Street. Across the
road, their mother, Wayan Putu, also stood with her right hand extended, asking for alms from the passing motorists. In her left arm was her youngest child, a toddler who tried to escape the sun’s scorching heat by pressing his face to his mother’s bosom.
The family of beggars, who claimed to be from Muntigunung, a very poor village in Karangasem known for its large population of beggars, said they arrived in Denpasar just two days before.
They chose the Gajah Mada business district as their base and went out seeking alms at the nearby Pasar Badung, the island’s largest traditional market.
The market is always packed with traders and housewives, an ideal place for a beggar to ask for spare coins.
On that Friday, however, they left the market for the mosque. The mother wore a head covering that resembled the kind commonly used by older Muslim women.
“[By wearing this head covering] I hope they will assume I am a Javanese woman,” she said. “This disguise will not fail because people rarely speak to beggars.”
Their strategy of targeting a mosque and dressing like Javanese Muslims worked well: They received more alms that day than usual. It no doubt was connected to the fact that Muslims were entering the holy month of Ramadan, during which they are urged to practice more virtue, including giving
to charity.
But not all beggars were doing so well. Another beggar, Busadi, 70, found out that luck just wasn’t on his side this year. A few days before the start of Ramadan, Busadi was apprehended by the city’s law and order (Satpol PP) officers. Two weeks later, he was still being held at the Satpol PP office.
The frail, one-legged Busadi said he arrived in Denpasar from his home village in Situbondo, East Java, about two months ago.
“I became a beggar because I am a poor man,” he said. “Instead of detaining people like us, the government should instead taking care of us.”
Busadi said he hoped the officers would send him home before Lebaran, the festival that marks the end of Ramadan.
Satpol PP officer Wirawan said the number of beggars usually doubled during Ramadan.
“This holy month is seen as a lucrative period by beggars from Bali as well as beggars from outside Bali,” he said.
