For fun: Cartoon characters play with visitors in Fatahillah Square in West Jakarta. JP/Don

Ipin, one of the eponymous characters of popular animated Malaysian TV show Upin & Ipin, was sitting with a basket of money in front of the Jakarta History Museum in Kota Tua, West Jakarta, on a scorching hot Sunday.

Just as he tried to relax, a little girl approached to take a picture with him.

Ipin immediately stood up, took the girl'€™s hand and posed for her father, who was ready to capture the moment with his smartphone. After getting the desired pictures, the father placed Rp 5,000 [US 40 cents] in the basket before leaving.

'€œShe caught me on my break, but it'€™s okay because I got paid,'€ Dandi, the teenager behind the mask of the much-loved character, told The Jakarta Post recently.

The 14-year-old boy said he had been working at the tourism spot every weekend for the last three months to earn extra cash, dressed as cartoon characters such as Upin, Ipin or Stitch from the Disney animation Lilo & Stitch.

The costumes, he said, belonged to someone he referred to as his boss, who would get half the money he collected by the end of the day. After working from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., he said he could earn at least Rp 50,000 from the voluntary tips.

'€œIt is stiflingly hot inside the costume, but I can use the money for my school needs, or sometimes I just use it to buy snacks and stuff,'€ the eighth grader said.

Kota Tua has long attracted local and foreign tourists as well as photographers who like to take in the historical buildings and various attractions as well as cultural events that are occasionally held both by the city and the private sector.

The large number of visitors who throng to the area at weekends and their penchant for taking pictures has inspired Dandi and dozens of others to earn money by dressing as cartoon characters. Some children ask to take photos with Shaun the Sheep, while others prefer to pose with more recognizable characters such as a minion from Dreamworks'€™ box-office hit Despicable Me or Sheriff Woody of Toy Story.

Among the cartoon characters, the most sought-after is influential Japanese manga character Doraemon, who seems to be busy all the time serving a sea of clients.

'€œSince everyone here wants to take pictures with Doraemon, the guy can make up to Rp 1 million on a busy day,'€ Dandi said.

Rian Ghofur, 17, another teenager who wore a Dora the Explorer costume, said he hoped to earn half the income of the man in the Doraemon costume.

'€œThe Doraemon costume is only used by the '€˜senior'€™ guys here, while Dandi and I can only wear less-popular characters,'€ Rian said, adding that on a regular weekend during which there was no special event at Kota Tua he could expect to earn up to Rp 150,000.

M. Jasin, an officer of the Jakarta Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) who is assigned to supervise Kota Tua, said that previously there had been a number of smaller children, under 14 years of age, who took the job of wearing costumes.

However, since the middle of January the agency has prohibited such young children from working in the area.

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