Batam (Riau) – Some 2,000 hotel and entertainment workers in Riau Islands province staged a protest on Wednesday in Batam, demanding that the government raise the minimum wage in the area.

The increase in the minimum wage should follow on the increase of fuel price, the protesters said.

"The fuel price hike has led to increases in the price of basic necessities, making these basic necessities unaffordable for us," said Joko, a protester who works as a bell boy in a local hotel in Batam.