Ondel-ondel puppets are both icons of Jakarta and important cultural symbols for Jakarta’s indigenous Betawi people, representing their ancestors and warding off evil spirits.
But these days, you’re more likely to see them being used by buskers looking for money on the street then taking place in a traditional cultural parade.
Vice Governor of Jakarta, Djarot Saiful Hidayat wants to put an end to that. He has asked law enforcement agencies to catch anyone busking while using ondel-ondel.
Djarot said law enforcement could arrest them based on Regional Regulation No. 8 of 2007 on Public Order, which criminalizes acts that would tarnish the image of Jakarta.
“They (the ondel-ondel buskers) must be arrested. They should not be allowed to use cultural symbols for begging. Moreover, if this is seen by many people in Jakarta, it becomes an embarrassment to the capital,” he said on Wednesday as quoted by Merdeka.
