Puppet ban in Indonesian capital threatens buskers’ livelihoods

In the sweltering streets of Jakarta, buskers carry towering, hollow puppets and pass around a bucket for donations. Now, they fear becoming outlaws. City authorities are cracking down on use of the long-sacred ondel-ondel puppets, originally used by the Betawi people to ward off evil spirits, and are drafting new legislation to restrict them to set events. “I’m worried that the ban could lead to more street crimes, because most of the buskers have no other jobs,” ondel-ondel artist Mulyadi tells AFP.