Tasa Nugraza Barley & Ade Mardiyati – Each year during Ramadan, beggars come to Jakarta to take advantage of the extra generosity of the city's Muslims during the fasting month.

The giving of charity is required from all Muslims to help those in need, and during Ramadan each gift to the poor, or any other good deed, earns extra credit for the faithful from Allah.

But two years ago the Jakarta municipal administration passed a bylaw carrying penalties as high as a Rp 20 million ($2,000) fine or 60 days in jail for anyone caught giving cash to street beggars. And efforts are made each year in Jakarta to round up beggars before and during Ramadan and take them to shelters and training centers.

Authorities have estimated that the number of beggars arriving in Jakarta from outside the city rose by about 10 percent during the first week of Ramadan, and during the first 10 days of the fasting month, the Jakarta Social Agency netted more than 850 beggars, including 83 infants, in raids across the city's five municipalities.

Most came from northern coastal areas such as Brebes and Pekalongan in Central Java, and the vast majority are controlled by panhandling syndicates, according to Budiarjo, the head of the agency. In 2008, Budiarjo said, 7,000 beggars were caught in raids during Ramadan, with around 5,000 placed in shelters, about 1,100 sent back to their hometowns and the rest taken in by their families.

BeritaJakarta.com, the city administration's official news portal, has reported that the number of beggars coming to the city could increase by 500 percent over the entire holy month.

Here are the stories of five people counting on the generosity of others on the streets of Jakarta this year.

Susi

With too many mouths to feed and no husband, Susi says she has no choice but beg for money. The 40-year-old was cradling the youngest of her six children while begging on "her turf" – a traffic intersection in Matraman, East Jakarta – last week.

Susi said she collected about Rp 20,000 to Rp 50,000 a day, which she used to keep her children in school and feed them.

She said syndicates of beggars existed, but not around Matraman. "It's usually beggars from other cities who are involved in syndicates. I'm a Matraman native," she said.

She said Muslims usually showed charity toward beggars during Ramadan, but the government's renewed focus on enforcing the 2007 bylaw on begging had made many of them nervous about handing out money.

To illustrate her point, on the day she spoke to the Jakarta Globe, Susi said she had only collected Rp 3,000 in three hours. "They don't understand. I do this for a living. If they had a better job for me, I would take it in a flash," she said.

Bunga

Bunga means "flower" in Indonesian, and this little girl had a pretty little face to match her name, and a big smile. She doesn't know exactly how old she is, but looks to be around 6.

Bunga said she had been helping her mother "find money" for about two years. They beg at intersections in Gudang Peluru, East Jakarta.

Bunga said she badly wanted to join her friends at school, but for now that just wasn't possible. She had been in school once, she said, but was forced to drop out because her mother could no longer pay the fees.

Bunga said she made Rp 15,000 a day on average, but lately it has been less. "People are afraid they'll go to jail for giving us money," she said. "Which is so sad because I'd been hoping to get more money this Ramadan. I wanted to buy new clothes like other children at Idul Fitri."

Budi

Budi was seen strumming a ukulele as he dodged traffic in Permata Hijau last week, right near a block of luxury apartments. He said he only begged during those times when he didn't have work.

Budi said he usually made Rp 25,000 from begging from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. He prefers to beg in the morning so he can sleep in the afternoon, he said.

Budi said he'd never heard of syndicates of beggars operating in Jakarta, and that the city administration's ban on begging seemed both cruel and unnecessary. "They don't have hearts. My people need money for food. Do they give us food? No," he said.

Budi, a Muslim, said he knew God didn't approve of him relying on handouts, but what choice did he have? "It's hard finding a decent job in this city," he said.

Budi said he dreamed of being a famous singer one day, just like Iwan Fals who sang on the streets before he got famous. But, in the meantime, "I'll just keep begging for money."

Sri Maryani (Narti)

"Thank you so much, pretty sister," Sri Maryani, or Narti, said in Javanese to a young woman who had just given her three Rp 5,000 bills.

After arriving in the city about two weeks ago with her 3-year-old son, Narti, who is pregnant, started her working life in Jakarta digging out plastic cups from garbage cans and dumpsters to sell. But, after a couple of days, she realized the work required too much walking for a pregnant woman.

"I will give birth to my second child in about two weeks," the 28-year-old said. "I get tired very easily now. And I'm also fasting." Narti and her family live in Rembang, Central Java, and she left for Jakarta to earn extra money to pay for the delivery of her baby.

Meanwhile, her husband took off to Palembang, South Sumatra, to work on a coffee plantation. He has no idea Narti has been begging for money, she said.

"He doesn't even know that I left Rembang. My mother knows I'm here, but she doesn't know I'm doing this kind of work," Narti said.

She said her husband used to sell usually made Rp 20,000. "It's not enough to cover our daily needs – and with the baby on the way – that's why he left to try a new job and see if it is any better," she said in a thick Javanese accent.

When asked whether she was aware the city administration had a law against begging, Narti shook her head. "I don't have a TV [for news] but what I do know is that public order officers chase and arrest beggars," she said.

"I was arrested once but released a few hours later because I'm pregnant. They said it would cost them more money to have a pregnant woman arrested."

Every day for the past 10 days, Narti and her son have started begging at a pedestrian bridge as early as 8 a.m. When she decides to call it a day, Narti leaves the bridge and heads "home" to a train station platform in Jatinegara, East Jakarta.

Narti said she earned more when foreigners passed by. "Mister bule gives more money," she said. "I can usually earn Rp 30,000 up to Rp 35,000 a day."

However, Narti said she wouldn't be a beggar for long. She plans to give birth in Jakarta – so as not to trouble her mother back home in Rembang – and take the bus back to Rembang a couple of days later with the baby. "I have to be home before my husband gets back," she said.

Lia

Leaving her sick husband at home, 29-year-old Lia usually begs on a pedestrian bridge on Jalan Sudirman. She brings her toddler with her, and her oldest child usually meets them after school.

"I have done this for the last two years, since my husband fell ill," she said. "We depended on him a lot back then." Lia said she usually made Rp 25,000 to Rp 30,000 a day.

She said that even though it had been two years, she still felt embarrassed when someone she knew saw her begging. Years ago, Lia left her hometown in Sumedang, West Java, to work as a housemaid in Bandung. The job didn't work out and she ended up in Jakarta selling noodles.

"Business was not really good and [the noodle seller] went bankrupt," she said. "Then I met my husband, who is 30 years older than me, and we got married."

Lia's husband never had a steady job but he did earn enough to feed their small family. "But now he's sick, I have to be the breadwinner as he can't walk properly anymore due to rheumatism," she said.

Lia knows about the bylaw on begging, but again says she has no choice.

"I got arrested once during a raid by public order officers," she said. "And it scares me every time I hear the sound from a loud speaker from a passing car down there. I know what I do is against the law. But tell me, what would you do if you were me?"