J

ust after midnight on Saturday, 19-year-old Daniarto left his house in Kalibata, South Jakarta, to join dozens of his friends taking part in a motorcycle convoy around the city known as '€œsahur [pre-dawn meal] on the road'€.

During the holy month of Ramadhan, people across Jakarta hit the streets before sunrise to have pre-dawn meals together and to deliver free meals to homeless and underprivileged people who are fasting.

'€œI just get bored at my house so I want to drive around the city and have my pre-dawn meal with my friends,'€ Daniarto told The Jakarta Post, adding that sahur convoys have been a tradition among him and his neighbors for years.

However, not everyone taking part in sahur convoys is on a charitable mission. If recent reports are any indication, some participants may simply be looking for trouble.

'€œWe think there is no social value in their behavior; it is just a wild convoy,'€ Tanah Abang Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Anom Setyadi told the Post.

He was speaking after around 600 people parked their motorcycles in front of his police office to protest the arrest of a 17-year-old student at 1:30 a.m. for carrying a sickle during a pre-dawn convoy on Jl. Raya Asia Afrika in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta.

On Monday, two more violent incidents took place shortly before dawn '€” one in Menteng, Central Jakarta, and the other in West Jakarta.

In Menteng, a youth riding in a sahur motorcycle convoy, Dimmy Rachmandana, was stabbed by another motorcyclist.

Based on the police report, Dimmy was part of a 40-strong convoy that met with another group of around 100 people. A dispute arose when neither group would give way to the other.

One person reportedly produced a knife and stabbed Dimmy three times, in the chest and stomach. Dimmy'€™s friend, Aditya, was also stabbed. Both were admitted to the state-run Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, where Dimmy remains in a serious condition.

Also on Monday, around 80 people who were participating in a sahur convoy on motorcycles threw rocks at a car rental office in Mangga Besar, West Jakarta. One of the office'€™s employees was injured in the incident, which also damaged the office'€™s windows. Some of the motorcyclists also tried to break through the entrance door but failed.

The owner of the car rental business, Akbar Nursyahbani, said that the violence could have been related to a minor incident that happened the previous day, when he found a teenager vandalizing the office. The teenager agreed to pay him Rp 50,000 (US$4.30) in compensation.

Jakarta Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Rikwanto said that the police strongly urged the public not to take part in sahur convoys because such activities had more potential for harm than good.

Rikwanto added that citizens should help unfortunate people in their local areas instead of riding around the city before sunrise.

'€œBesides that, there would also a lot of people being disturbed by the noise of the motorcycles,'€ Rikwanto said. (idb)