DEPOK, Indonesia – Indonesian single mother Puryanti bows stiff like a robot as she and her five-year-old son, their bodies shining in silver paint, appeal to passers-by for the occasional coin at a busy intersection outside the capital, Jakarta.
They belong to a group of people called “manusia silver,” or “silver people” who are using the strategy to gain attention, struggling to make ends meet after the coronavirus last year destroyed Southeast Asia’s largest economy. recession pushed.
“Some give, others don’t,” said Puryanti, 29, after three months of such daily performances, accompanied by her cousin Raffi, 15. “Sometimes someone gives enough.”
On good days, the Javanese, who was a housewife before her divorce, can earn about 70,000 rupiah ($ 5), enough to scrape around and pay the rent.
Puryanti uses a homemade paint, a mixture of screen printing powder and cooking oil, to coat their bodies and add dramatic effect to the robot act. She says the silver paint has no ill effects.
“I’m not ashamed to work like this,” she added. “Most importantly, this is all for my kids.”
The pandemic, which triggered Indonesia’s first recession in more than 20 years, with the economy shrinking by nearly 2.2% in the fourth quarter, has been tough on millions in the informal sector who had to leave their homes to make a living. to provide.
According to government statistics, there are 26.42 million residents of Indonesia in a population of more than 270 million, a number that grew by 1.63 million from September 2019 to the start of the pandemic in March 2020.
Puryanti has asked the police whether she can continue to work as a ‘silver person’ for the time being, as long as she follows coronavirus measures such as wearing a mask, but she has higher ambitions.
“I want to have my own business,” she added. “I want to open a small shop, but I have no money for it.”