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Residents and volunteers, all flock to support Ahok for governor's post
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People fill out forms of support to hand in with copies of their identity cards at a Teman Ahok (Friends of Ahok) booth in Kuningan City Mall in South Jakarta on Thursday. Teman Ahok has opened booths in 15 different malls to garner support for Ahok's independent bid in the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election. (thejakartapost.com/Callistasia Anggun Wijaya)
Dozens of people gathered around a Teman Ahok (Friends of Ahok) booth in a mall in South Jakarta on Thursday afternoon.
Some of them were filling out the forms while others submitted forms to the volunteers at the booth.
The booth was set up by Friends of Ahok, a group of volunteer supporters that aims to help Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama in his independent bid in the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election by collecting photo copies of supporters' identity cards.
Advertising agency employee Marietha Magdalena Sianipar went to the booth her during lunch break to fill in a form and hand over a copy of her ID card to support Ahok.
She had previously done the same thing, but was required to do so again to include Ahok's running mate on the support form.
Ahok has announced that he will run with Jakarta Financial Asset Management board chairman Hery Budi Hartono as his partner.
Marietha willingly repledged her support for Ahok despite the city's remaining woes, such as traffic congestion, as she said significant improvements had been made during Ahok's tenure.
"We have seen his work. It would be unfortunate if he could not continue his programs," the 27-year-old told thejakartapost.com.
Marietha sees Ahok's decision to run as an independent candidate as an advantage, saying that public trust in political parties was declining.
Another visitor to the booth, Adi, 51, also filled in a form to pledge his support for the former East Belitung regent.
"I believe in Ahok. He acts firm and is an honest man. It's not easy to find an honest man these days," said Adi, who works for a private company in Kuningan.
People visited the booth not only to fill out forms but also to buy Ahok-related merchandise, such as Teman Ahok bracelets, T-shirts, polo shirts and calendars.
Various merchandise is being sold, such as bracelets for Rp 12,000 (9 US cents) and polo shirts for Rp 130,000.
Marline, 36, who is unable to vote or pledge support for Ahok as she is not a resident of Jakarta but of Depok, West Java province, bought a bracelet to demonstrate her support for Ahok.
Booth keepers, twin sisters Hersini and Hersina, patiently served visitors who wanted to fill in forms or buy merchandise.
The 22-year old unemployed sisters tend the booth as Teman Ahok volunteers willingly as they said they wanted to do all they could to help Ahok retain his grip on the capital.
After Ahok declared last week that would run as an independent candidate with Heru in next year's election, Teman Ahok has garnered a lot of public support.
One of Teman Ahok's founders, Richard Handris, said that prior to the announcement, the group could collect up to 3,500 ID-backed signatures per day, which skyrocketed to 18,800 per day from across the capital, meaning that 94,000 people had signed up within five days of the announcement to support Ahok and Heru.
The group wants to re-collect ID-backed signatures as their previous achievement of more than 700,000 signatures did not comply with requirements as they lacked the name a running mate for Ahok.
As of Friday afternoon, 117,373 people had pledged support through Teman Ahok.
Ahok and Heru need the pledged support of at least 532,000 Jakartans to pass the minimum requirement set by the Jakarta General Elections Commission for independent candidates. Ahok had set a goal for Teman Ahok to collect photo copies of at least 1 million IDs to secure his candidacy.
In order to facilitate citizens in pledging support, Teman Ahok has set up booths in 15 malls across Jakarta, such as in Kelapa Gading Mall in North Jakarta, Puri Indah Mall in West Jakarta, Cilandak Town Square and Pondok Indah Mall II in South Jakarta, and plans to open more in other places.
The booths in malls, of course, do not come for free,
Richard said that Teman Ahok had received discounted prices for the space to set up booths from the malls' managements.
"We pay, but it is a discounted price. It only takes skill to negotiate," Richard said, declining to reveal the cost of each booth.
Teman Ahok covers its operating costs by selling merchandise, Richard said.
"Our T-shirts are selling well. New T-shirts once sold out within a day," said the 23-year-old.
Some visitors attempted to make cash donations to the group, which rejected the offer and suggested they buy merchandise instead.
Besides setting up booths in malls, Teman Ahok has also collected support through 150 supporting posts created by residents in several areas in the capital.
Volunteer Arum Ara Sekar said instead of visiting a mall, supporters could download the forms at the Temanahok.com website, fill them out and mail them to the secretariat office.
Volunteers
Teman Ahok was established by five young people. Besides Richard, there are Aditya Yogi Prabowo, 25, Amalia Ayuningtyas, 25, Muhammad Fathony and Singgih Widyastono, 23.
Besides organizing Teman Ahok activities, each of them has their own activities.
The only female founder, Amalia, who graduate from the University of Indonesia, has an online business selling hijab, while Singgih studies at the University of Pamulang in South Tangerang, Banten.
Aditya works at a pharmaceutical company while Fathony is employed by a tire company. Richard is a teacher at a private school in Jakarta and is also a freelance graphic designer.
The five friends were volunteers for Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and Ahok during the 2012 Jakarta gubernatorial campaign. Jokowi went on to become President.
The volunteers reunited and formed Teman Ahok as they believed that Jakarta needed Ahok to continue his development programs and did not want his lack of political party support to get in the way.
Ahok has had no political party affiliation since 2014, when he left the Gerindra Party, which supported him in 2012 election.
Teman Ahok volunteers number 450, with most being university students. Their tasks vary, from tending the booths or posts to working at the group's secretariat office in Pejaten, South Jakarta.
Merchandise sales also contribute to paying for volunteers' transportation, Richard said.
Not all volunteers are Jakarta residents. Arum lives in Tangerang and is majoring in anthropology at the University of Indonesia in Depok, West Java.
She is using her experience as a volunteer as the topic of her thesis. However, her main focus is to help the capital get the best leader, which she believes is Ahok . (rin)
