Hasyim Widhiarto, Jakarta – Sitting on a red plastic chair at a small, green Betawi People Communication Forum (Forkabi) guard post on Jl. KS Tubun in Petamburan, Central Jakarta, a skinny old man took deep slow drags on his cigarette, hoping to keep warm against a cold breeze which blew in misty rain outside.
Every time a private car slowed down in front of him, the man would immediately put his cigarette down and approach the car. He would ask the driver whether they needed any help finding a parking space on the street, where a hospital and a dozen or so stores and food stalls are located.
The man did the same when the owners of parked cars returned to their vehicles – carefully guiding them to take their cars and helping them pull out into the street safely. In return, they would hand the man a Rp 1,000 (11 US cents) or Rp 2,000 bank note.
"This job is actually boring but not bad," 63-year-old Jana told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday, "At least I can get enough money to buy food and cigarettes every day."
The sole parking attendant on the street, Jana said he had been given the job by his superior at a local branch of Forkabi, which he joined several years ago.
The organization, he said, dispatched its members to work as parking attendants on the streets of Petamburan as a way to support them economically as well as to protect the area from "other groups".
"There are many jobless locals who wanted this parking job. But since they are not Forkabi members they are not allowed to," said the father of four, who has been living alone since his wife passed away four years ago.
Like Jana, the much younger Ronald Armstrong, 21, a member of the Betawi Brotherhood Forum's (FBR) South Jakarta chapter, said he had benefitted greatly from the Betawi organization since he joined up two years ago.
"The organization helped me to learn to control myself and manage people as well," said Ronald, who said he had been involved in countless student brawls when he was at school.
Ronald, however, said it had not been easy to become an FBR member. Before he was officially inaugurated as a member, Ronald said he had been asked to join an FBR mission to protect a disputed swath of land in South Jakarta from a gang hailing from "the eastern part of Indonesia".
The mission, he said, had sparked several brawls, but earned him an FBR membership card.
"Later, I realized that it was important for all newly recruited (FBR) members to have such an experience so that they could learn a lesson about solidarity and loyalty," he said.
A number of so-called Betawi organizations operate in the city, claiming to protect the Betawi local culture, and protecting their territories from non-native gangs and influences.
Last year, the Betawi Consultative Body (Bamus), which supervises the activities of all Betawi organizations, recorded that 104 affiliate organizations had registered with the body, including the FBR, Forkabi and the Betawi Movement (Gerak).
The FBR and Forkabi are perhaps the most well-known Betawi organizations, as they often make headlines for their involvement in street brawls, including inter-ethnic fighting.
Last month, for example, hundreds of Forkabi members clashed with a group of Madurese people in Duri Kosambi subdistrict, Cengkareng, West Jakarta. One Forkabi local leader was killed in the incident. The police insisted the riot had been triggered by an individual, and was not an ethnic clash.
In 2008, the FBR, along with the hard-line Islam Defenders Front (FPI), ambushed activists from the National Alliance for the Freedom of Faith and Religion while they were rallying at the National Monument to support religious pluralism.
The two organizations are also renowned for operating protection rackets, particularly targeting businesses.
Tri "Borix" Aryadi, the secretary of the South Jakarta chapter of FBR, openly admitted that his organization sometimes relied on aggressive tactics to force businesses to hire their members.
He said that recently business owners had become "more cooperative" with the FBR, because they were now familiar with the organization's reputation.
"Our demand is actually very simple, please prioritize people living nearby your building or business area as your employees," Borix said, adding that most members of the organization had undergone little education, and were therefore eligible for only low-paying jobs, such as security guards or street cleaners.
In a recent interview with local TV program JakTV, the head of Bamus Betawi, Nachrowi Ramli, said such Betawi organizations might have a tendency toward aggressive behavior because they were unsatisfied with the unbalanced distribution of wealth in the rapidly developing capital.
Nachrowi, a retired army general and the chairman of the Democratic Party's Jakarta chapter, said Bamus tried to control all of its members through regular meetings and management training. "But it is not only us who are supposed to handle our people. Other ethnic-based organizations (in the city) must also do the same thing," he said.