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ixteen-year-old Muhammad Adat frowned with concentration while placing accessories from 2.5-meter ondel-ondel (giant effigies) on the Sentiong River bank in Johar Baru, Central Jakarta, on Tuesday afternoon while his friends helped him set up a music player.

'€œWe usually go out at 4 p.m. and come back at 11 p.m. if the weather is good,'€ he said.

Adat, who dropped out of school in fifth grade, said that performing with ondel-ondel was his chosen career. '€œI have been working with groups who looked for money with ondel-ondel since I was small. This is all I know. I never thought to have another job,'€ he said.

Adat said that after working with other groups, he tried to save money to buy an ondel-ondel mask. '€œMy parents helped me buy the [ondel-ondel] body,'€ he said, adding that he formed his own group in 2012.

Adat said his troupe usually earned around Rp 200,000 (US$14.40) when business was good. '€œWe usually walk from here to Kota Tua [West Jakarta],'€ he said, adding that the historic site was crowded on weekends.

He said the money was not much but it was enough for him and his group, comprising four to six people.

'€œThe most important thing is that we can eat today and look for money again for tomorrow,'€ he said, adding that he did not have any intention to go back to school.

'€œI love ondel-ondel and I want to make a bigger group one day so we can perform at big occasions like Jakarta'€™s anniversary or wedding parties,'€ he said.

Adat said performing with ondel-ondel was not only about his personal ambitions. '€œI also need to think about my friends. How would they survive if we did not make money?'€

Like Adat, hundreds of adolescents in Johar Baru are school dropouts who lack skills and jobs. Many of them work as buskers or do odd jobs to make ends meet. The district is also notorious for brawls that often occur among its youngsters.

One of the group members, 16-year-old Boyka Septian, said he left home in Depok, West Java, for Johar Baru to earn money. '€œI rented a room with three other friends here,'€ he said, adding that the rent was Rp 12,000 per day.

Boyka, whose father is a construction worker, said he knew that he did not earn much from performing with ondel-ondel but he was content because he was with his friends.

'€œFriends are very important for us. We look out for each other,'€ he said, adding it was also the reason he had been involved in brawls.

He said he had tried other jobs but could not stand them. '€œI worked on a vessel catching tuna on the sea for one year. The job was too hard and the wage was not much,'€ he said.

He added that over the whole year he earned only Rp 13 million. He gave half to his parents and spent the other half in two weeks on having fun after a year at sea.

Boyka, who left school in eighth grade, said he hoped he could find a better job.

'€œI have been asking around but it is so hard to get a proper job,'€ he said, adding that he would not mind working as a janitor or shopkeeper.

Sociologist Musni Umar said the city administration should reach out to its youth and create a comprehensive program to help them.

'€œThe city administration should record the number of youth and bring them back to school,'€ he said.

Musni, who conducted research on brawls in Johar Baru, said it could even be necessary to remove them from the district. '€œThe district is too crowded and has many bad influences like drug dealers and thugs,'€ he said.

He said that after giving youth education and training, the city administration should ensure they found decent employment.