Jakrarta – Hoodlums, locally known as preman, have established themselves in every corner of the capital, "guarding" almost every public place, including bus terminals, traditional markets, shopping centers and even road junctions.

Data collected by the city administration reveals that several spots in the city's five mayoralties have been virtually controlled by the thugs for years.

They presently operate in many places in Central Jakarta, including the Senen area, Banteng field, junctions along Jl. Gunung Sahari, the National Monument (Monas) Park, Pasar Baru and the Tanah Abang area.

In East Jakarta, the hoodlums hang out at junctions in Cawang, Jl. Pemuda, Kramatjati, the Kampung Rambutan and Kampung Melayu bus terminals and the Jatinegara railway station.

Preman are also firmly established in many public places in North Jakarta, including Sunda Kelapa and Tanjung Priok harbors, Tanjung Priok railway station and bus terminal, and junctions in Pluit, Ancol and Plumpang.

They also operate in Glodok, Mangga Dua, Mangga Besar, and junctions in Cengkareng, Tomang, Daan Mogot, Hayam Wuruk, Tubagus Angke and Grogol, all in West Jakarta.

In South Jakarta, the preman hang out in the Blok M shopping area, Kebayoran Lama traditional market, Lebak Bulus terminal, and junctions at CSW, Kemang and Kalibata.

They usually extort illegal levies from traders in the markets, bus or public minivan drivers in bus terminals, or organize on-street parking.

According to the Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, (Unabridged Dictionary of the Indonesian Language), preman is defined as a petty criminal, robber or pickpocket.

Many linguists believe that the word preman originates from Dutch and means "a free man", a man who is free to go anywhere and at anytime without being bound by commitments to relatives.

Criminologist Adrianus Meliala of the University of Indonesia, however, disagrees with the definition provided by the dictionary, saying that preman are not really criminals, but rather they simply do not live and act as ordinary, law-abiding people.

"The definition is still unclear. The Preman are somewhere in the gray area between criminals and law-abiding people," Adrianus told The Jakarta Post over the weekend. He said the hoodlums were not always hated, but, in many cases, certain people or groups used them for their own ends.

The South Jakarta Public Order Office reportedly hired some thugs to evict street traders, and magazine and newspapers vendors from the CSW crossroads.

Several street vendors, accompanied by a number of legal and rights activists filed a complaint with the City Council last week, saying that they had been beaten and threatened by the hoodlums, who were armed with machetes.

South Jakarta Mayor Abdul Mufti has denied that his mayoralty hired the hoodlums, saying that those involved were public order officers.

As a multiethnic city, Jakarta is a place where many people from across the country come to try their "luck", and the same applies to the hoodlums.

Adrianus said hoodlums, who were socially and economically marginalized, normally associated based on primitive considerations such as ethnicity.

"They can easily communicate with and are emotionally linked to their friends from similar ethnic groups. It's different for middle-class people who associate and unite in organizations based on their professions or hobbies," he said. "This is why certain areas become the haunts of certain ethnic groups."

The Madurese are the "kings" in Senen and Tanah Abang markets in Central Jakarta, and in Kebayoran Lama market, South Jakarta. But Minangkabau youths (West Sumatra) and preman from East Timor also control other parts of the Tanah Abang area, including the former Bongkaran red-light district.

Last week, Madurese hoodlums were involved in brawls with native Jakartan (Betawi) youths in Kebayoran Lama and Tanah Abang markets, which claimed two lives.

In the Blok M shopping area and bus terminal, hoodlums from Surabaya in East Java, who are known as the Arek gang, and from Malang, also in East Java, who are known as the Arema gang, share control of the area.

In 1998, Betawi youths were involved in a brawl with security guards of Ambon, Maluku origin, who were hired by an amusement center in the Ketapang area of West Jakarta.

The brawl, which was triggered by a fight over a parking lot, turned into a religious clash, with several churches being burned down and a mosque damaged.

Many believe that the prolonged clashes in Maluku began after the Ambon youths, who had long lived in Jakarta, returned to their hometown.

People, however, are still dubious about the possibility of eradicating hoodlumism in the city, even though Governor Sutiyoso has recently declared war on the preman. "It's difficult to do, as long as the main problem, poverty, is incapable of being alleviated," Adrianus explained.

He said that it would soon be business as usual for the hoodlums, extorting money from vendors and public transportation drivers. "They are like an ailment in our body... we hate it, but we can't get rid of it," he said.