Indonesian gig workers get show of support from region after deadly riots

People in neighboring countries donate food and daily necessities via delivery apps

- Hariz Baharudin

People in South-east Asia are rallying behind gig workers in Indonesia and sending them food and daily necessities through delivery apps, following a weekend of deadly riots that gripped the country.

Popular anger exploded after Affan Kurniawan, a 21-year-old motorcycle taxi driver, was crushed by a police tactical vehicle during clashes in Jakarta on Aug 28, with his death fueling some of the country's worst unrest in decades.

According to local media reports, a day later in Makassar another ride-hailing driver, identified only as Rusdamdiansyah, was beaten to death near the Universitas Muslim Indonesia campus after a crowd accused him of being an undercover agent.

In the wake of the violence, Indonesians began using delivery apps to send food, drinks and first-aid kits to delivery riders, who have become one of the largest groups in the demonstrations.

Netizens have since posted instructions online explaining how to do this, and others in neighboring South-east Asian countries have joined in the practice to show support for these gig workers.

Some of the posts that emerged over the weekend provide detailed instructions for people outside Indonesia using apps such as Grab and Gojek to send food and first-aid kits to platform drivers in Jakarta or other places seized by unrest, such as Bandung, Yogyakarta and Makassar.

The instructions advise changing app location settings, a pre-existing feature, to Jakarta and selecting a central hotel as a delivery point.

Grab allows users to change their location to other cities in the region as well.

The instructions also remind people to avoid sending orders to points near police stations or including pork or alcohol in them.