Fana F.S. Putra – A mass organization notorious for its gang-related activities says it wants to shed its reputation for physical violence and extortion and become a force for social good.

Arifin Siregar, an official with the Jakarta chapter of the Pancasila Youth (PP), said on Wednesday that the organization had always received a bad rap, even though it boasted many leading public and community figures in its membership.

"The PP has this reputation for being thugs and vigilantes with a tendency for violence and who are only concerned with controlling street parking," he said.

"But few people realize that our members also include mayors, district heads, governors, legislators, doctors and lawyers. If people could see this, I hope it would change their perception of the PP."

Roberto Rouw, the head of the PP's Jakarta chapter, said that whereas the organization was previously "80 percent brawn and 20 percent brains, we're now going to flip it around and be 80 percent brains."

"We've got a lot of members who have been successful at the national level," he said, adding that he hoped their example would change people's perceptions about the PP and paint the organization as one that nurtured individuals' aspirations to work for the betterment of the country.

The PP is notorious for running protection rackets in neighborhoods over which it claims control, and is frequently used by politicians to draw large crowds to rallies or protests.