An ‘alternative’ holiday

Killing boredom: Two boys and two men sit in a PlayStation booth rental shop playing the video game Winning Eleven, in Cikini Station, Jakarta. JP/Ricky Yudhistira

The last few weeks of the year were quite different for 4th grader Ferdy Salaman and his “gang”, a group of children living in Limo, Depok.

A holiday unlike any other they’ve had before.

Feeding animals in Ragunan Zoo? Naaah, that’s passé.

Going to the cinema watching the latest movie? Hmm, probably later, if they can save up enough from this recent pastime they found amusing: becoming pak ogah in their neighborhood.

“The older boys have done it in that small alley over there. We noticed no one had done it here yet, so we’re going for it,” the small boy, barely 10 years old, said as he was taking a break for the day, sitting at a corner of a narrow but crowded strip in his neighborhood.

The job?

“Yes, cars and motorcycles are passing here now as the road there is closed. We give them directions and they give us money,” Ferdy said, describing the temporary “job” that he was doing during this year’s school holiday.

Holiday job: Two children walk past a couple of cars in Pasar Baru, Jakarta, working as ojek payung. JP/J. Adiguna

It was a combination of factors that pushed the nine-year old and his four friends into the pak ogah business, which has long been a phenomenon in the streets of Jakarta. They had two weeks off from school with nothing to do,  when an unusual circumstance in their neighborhood allowed them to earn extra pennies just meters away from their homes.

The corner where the kids sat was normally quiet, with only several cars or motorcycles passing by as it was located inside a kampong. But, like Ferdy said, the main road had been closed temporarily for maintenance, forcing motorists and even public minivans to seek out alternative routes.

And it was a blessing for the kampong kids on holiday. Financially, at least.

Mimicking the older boys in the neighborhood, this group of children as young as five earned Rp 20,000 after spending several hours of the last five days standing at the intersection, trying to direct motorists while asking for small change in return.

Seeing adults or late teens as pak ogah in various spots in the city is part of our everyday urban life.

Seeing a boy barely a meter tall doing the same thing makes us wonder, doesn’t it?

Like it or not, this is part of how urban kids spend their school holidays. Children take after the adults around them, they say. And this was exactly what Ferdy and his friends did.

Children born into low-income families need to be extra creative to chase away boredom during days off school. No fancy vacations, no Nickelodeon, no computers and no PlayStations. At home, that is.

Typical Jakarta: People stand in Jl. Veteran, Jakarta, offering their services as joki, individuals who take a ride with commuters wishing to use traffic lanes reserved for cars with more than one passenger. JP/P.J. Leo

Just across the corner from where they had been pak ogah was the perfect place for them to spend the day’s earning: a PlayStation rental shop.

“We don’t split the money. We take turns playing there,” Ferdy explained how the group made use of the windfall income.

For Rp 2,000 an hour, Ferdy had fun playing the Naruto game inside a nine-square-meter room packed with boys, eyes transfixed on the TV screen as their thumbs skillfully maneuvered between buttons.

“My mother gave me Rp 1,000 and said to come home before maghrib [sunset prayer], we can do what we want all day long,” he said. With the money earned from guarding the intersection, Ferdy could extend his hours at the game shop.

On weekends, when their parents had extra money for more luxurious pastimes, the group went to a Tamiya playground not far from the area. To race their Tamiya cars there?

“No. We just watch and buy lots of snacks. Tamiya is too expensive.”

Meanwhile, an hour’s drive from Ferdy’s neighborhood, in the crowded commercial area of Sarinah, Central Jakarta, the rain, not roadworks turned out to be a blessing for children on holidays.

“It’s great when it rains. I earn Rp 2,000 for every person renting my umbrella,” said 12-year-old Linasih, an ojek payung operating in the area since she was 10.

“When I’m lucky, I can get Rp 5,000 a trip, usually from women.”

Unlike Ferdy, Lina is an ojek payung regardless of holidays. As long as there’s rain and she’s done her house chores, she’s free to try her luck renting out an umbrella she bought for Rp 10,000 with her pocket money.

For her, having off-school days means having extra time to work.

“I save some of the money and spend some to buy magazines when it’s school holidays. It’s boring
otherwise.”