DEPOK, Indonesia – Indonesian single mother Puryanti bends tightly like a robot while she and her five-year-old son, their light shiny silver paint, call on passers-by to occasionally drop a coin at a busy intersection outside the capital Jakarta .
They are among a group of people called ‘manusia silver’, or ‘silver people’ who use the strategy to attract attention while struggling to get themselves together after the coronavirus in South Asia’s largest economy last year in ‘ pressed a recession.
“Some give, others do not,” says Puryanti, 29, after three months of such daily performances, accompanied by her nephew Raffi, 15. “Sometimes someone gives enough.”
On good days, the Javanese, who was a housewife before her divorce, could earn about 70,000 rupees ($ 5), enough to scrape the rent and pay.
Puryanti uses a homemade paint, a blend of silkscreen powder and cooking oil, to cover their bodies and give a dramatic effect on the robot act. She says the silver paint does not cause any adverse effects.
“I’m not ashamed to work like that,” she added. “The most important thing is that it’s all for my kids.”
The pandemic, which brought the first recession in Indonesia in more than two decades, with the economy shrinking by almost 2.2% in the fourth quarter, was difficult for millions in the informal sector who have to leave their homes to to exist.
According to government statistics, the poor of 26.42 million are of a population of more than 270 million, a number that grew by 1.63 million during the period from September 2019 to the start of the pandemic in March 2020.
Puryanti has checked with the police that she can 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 my own business,” she added. “I want to open a shop, but I do not have money for that.”