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31 March 2011

Red Light Stop

This is a photo I took 10 minutes ago. I am in a cab with my colleague, stopped at the lights.



A shake of the head usually enough for Indonesian beggars, who are far less pushy than their neighbours. Probably because they are far less hungry.

This kid was persistent, though. Possibly because it was raining.

One important rule is to never - never - give money to begging children. It doesn't feed the child. It only feeds the system that plucks Oliver Twist out of school and dumps him in front of traffic lights, or a mall entrance.

In Indonesia--as with most developing countries--you eventually learn to ignore beggars. This means that about 7 seconds after the lights turned green I would have forgotten all about this kid.

When I was in the car he didn't seem as sad as he looks here.