Thursday, October 18, 2007  Jakarta bans buskers  Singapore and
Malaysia are not the same as Indonesia.   Indonesia is still
ruled by the generals and life for the poor is getting worse.
Jakarta, capital of Indonesia, has many millionaires. These
millionaires are often Chinese-Indonesians and often top
government people, such as generals.  The rich elite like to
build office blocks, shopping malls and golf courses on land
occupied by the poor.  Retired Suharto general Sutiyoso was
until very recently governor of Jakarta; he hopes to become
president of Indonesia.  While he was governor of Jakarta,
Sutiyoso waged a campaign against Jakarta’s poor, targeting
street vendors, homeless children, buskers and pedicab drivers
among others. (Condemned Communities: Forced Evictions in
Jakarta: III. Background)  Frequently, gangs of thugs are used
to help government security forces in carrying out evictions of
poor people from their homes.  Sutiyoso wanted people to stop
giving money to people like street vendors and b