For Jakartans who regularly ride the angkot, it is such a regular scene yet taken for granted many times over, where the drivers voluntarily accommodate young buskers with ukuleles in hand and willingly pull over to drop them off after singing and get their money.

“They don’t even know each other’s names. I don’t think we can witness such a thing in other segments of society where people come to help others simply because they share a common understanding of the cruelty of the streets,” said housewife Gonia, one of Rizki’s passengers.

For Rizki, the connection is even more personal as he is a high school dropout himself who was unemployed for years before getting a job as a kenek (bus assistant) of a Kopaja minibus at the age of 25 and finally having the opportunity to drive his own angkot.

“We sometimes forget that many young people do not finish school because of some situation in their family; [many] end up on the streets and face the hardships of making a living at a very young age,” he said.

Rizki regretted that blue-collar workers like himself were always portrayed badly by society; as pariahs who often cause traffic jams, extort innocent people and generally cause chaos. Workers like him, he added, were often considered uncivilized and should be avoided.

While waiting for an angkot to pull over on Jl. Duri Utara in West Jakarta on Monday, 19-year-old Fajar Dawen had nothing to express but gratitude, saying that besides earning some money, busking in angkot was enough to help him recharge his physical fitness.

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