D

uring the recent Idul Fitri holiday, 19-year-old college student Sazhelya Hikari did not laze around at home or hang out with her friends.

Instead, she was busy overseeing one of the entrance gates at Ragunan Zoo in South Jakarta, one of the main tourist attractions in the capital city, and which saw hundreds of thousands of visitors over the holiday. For nearly two weeks, she checked tickets, gave directions and enjoyed the zoo.

Sazhelya was among hundreds of members of the Jakarta Boy and Girl Scouts (Pramuka) deployed to popular spots during Idul Fitri to support the police and the authorities covering tourist attractions, railway stations and the airport.

'€œI only joined the program this year. I thought my holiday would be more productive this way, and I that I would be able to help people too,'€ she told The Jakarta Post recently.

She admitted that there were also personal benefits to volunteering.

'€œI can make friends with fellow members from other areas and expand my network,'€ she said, adding that she had also earned some pocket money.

A member since elementary school, Shazelya, the daughter of a policeman, said that through being a girl scout, she had learnt some basic survival skills, including giving emergency aid.

Another member, 17-year-old Rifqi Fajar, said that becoming a boy scout was a step on the road to following his father'€™s career in the Navy.

'€œBeing a boy scout, I can practice what I have learned by contributing to society. When I grow older, I want to contribute to the country by following in my father'€™s footsteps,'€ he said, adding that he is used to helping the authorities during the Idul Fitri holiday.

While most people think that boy and girl scouts are all about outdoor activities like camping or learning survival skills, Pramuka Jakarta attempts to remain relevant and ensure its continued existence by resorting to urban programs.

Pramuka'€™s West Jakarta chapter, for example, established a new division overseeing tourism in May and recruited fresh youth figures to attract new members.

Rengga Kristianto, the head of the chapter'€™s new tourism division, said that the aim was to connect the organization'€™s activities to urban life.

'€œRecently, we invited 25 foreign ambassadors and representatives of neighboring countries to enjoy Kota Tua [in West Jakarta], with our members acting as tour guides.

'€œThrough tourism-related activities, we expect to gain more attention from the public. Tourism programs are relevant to our urban life in Jakarta,'€ he said.

Rengga'€™s division recently worked with the Textile Museum in West Jakarta to promote batik during a Ramadhan festival.

'€œWe recruited [local beauty pageant winners] Abang-None, Cici-Koko and Paskibra [flag-raising team] members to join us as the faces of the organization. We aim to promote Pramuka and shed the image of Pramuka as a band of nerds,'€ he said.