Amid the bustle of people getting off and boarding a commuter train at Central Jakarta’s Tanah Abang Station on Saturday, a security staff member on the train serving the Tanah Abang-Parung Panjang route, Mustamin, was eyeing passengers entering the car he was in charge of.

As all the seats were taken, some commuters had to stand, holding onto the hanging handles. Mustamin observed the passengers to identify any who deserved the priority seats provided at either end of the train cars. The seats are reserved for the elderly, pregnant women, people with disabilities and women with children.

“I often admonish people for not giving their seats to passengers in need,” Mustamin says, gazing away as he estimated how many people he had to ask to give up their seats: “Maybe two or three people in two working days.”

The number seems small thanks to the many aware passengers who would remind others to relinquish their seats for passengers in need. However, commuter line operator PT Kereta Commuter Indonesia (KCI) still received complaints from pregnant passengers not getting a seat, especially those who are less than three months into their pregnancy.

Therefore, on Wednesday, coinciding with National Customer Day, KCI issued pink badges displaying the symbol of a pregnant woman to be used by expecting mothers during their commute.

KCI spokeswoman Anne Purba said the badge aimed to create awareness about the needs of pregnant women.

“We received suggestions from the public to somehow identify pregnant woman,” she said.

The badges can be obtained by registering online via https://bit.ly/30DZ20k or offline via passenger services at five stations: Bekasi, Bogor, Juanda, Duri and Tanah Abang. KCI also collaborates with KRL communities, so people can register through said communities.

The form requires registrants to provide some documents proving their pregnancy.

According to Anne, 149 badges had been distributed as of Friday.

Ranny, 25, a commuter line regular, recalls an unpleasant experience from the time she was pregnant. “Sometimes my husband had to ask other passengers who were sitting in the priority seats to give up their seats for me.”

Another regular KRL passenger, Martin, 21, gives his perspective on why many people are reluctant to give up their seats.

“Some may be commuting quite far, and it took hours for them to get to their home or workplace and vice versa. Naturally, they choose to rest while commuting. That’s why when someone asks for a seat, some people may not deliberately give up theirs. But that’s not the right thing to do, especially to the prioritized passengers like pregnant women. It’s selfish, really.”

Mustamin said the badge would make it easier to identify pregnant women as some of them barely showed physical change.

“Some ladies in the first trimester of their pregnancy would approach me and ask for my assistance in looking for seats. Their baby bump is barely visible. There’s not much physical difference. Sometimes they fear being ridiculed by another passenger, or even accused of lying,” he said.

Anne says KCI hopes the measure will make passengers empathize more and create a culture prioritizing passengers in need.

— The writer is an intern at The Jakarta Post.

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