Differences in the Spatial Distribution and Characteristics of Urban Beggars: The Case of the Sanglah District in Denpasar (Indonesia)

During the field observation, two routes used by Muslim beggars to start their panhandling practices, i.e., from 07:00 a.m. WITA (Central Indonesian Time; UTC+08.00), were identified. Figure 2 shows the travel routes of beggars in the study area.

Fig. 2

Two panhandling routes of Muslim beggars can be identified. The first one goes through the roads: Jalan Nusa Kambangan – Jalan Pulau Banda – Jalan Pulau Maluku – Jalan Pulau Biak – Jalan Imam Bonjol – Jalan Gajah Mada – Jalan Sulawesi – Jalan Hasanudin – Jalan Kalimantan. The second route is Jalan Pulau Kawe – Jalan Pulau Timor – Jalan Pulau Bali – Jalan Pulau Nias – Jalan Serma Made Pil – Jalan Waturenggong – Jalan Diponegoro – Jalan PB. Sudirman. Although these routes do not overlap, they have similar characteristics. For instance, the first route includes Jalan Gadjah Mada, which is a heritage area functioning as a trade zone with typical old shopping buildings in Denpasar City, while the second route passes through the Diponegoro shopping area (Jalan Diponegoro).

The difference between the two routes lies in the visited healthcare facility, i.e., the second route has one, whereas the first route does not. The rest of the public places, such as settlements, shops, trade centres, and places of worship, are found in each route. Thomassen (2015) states that beggars in Rome are seen in many churches, supermarkets, minimarkets, schools, ATMs, and magazine shops. Similarly, Mirjat et al. (2017) mention restaurants, supermarkets, recreational parks, places of worship, educational institutions, stations, and banks as the most frequently visited places for panhandling. Accordingly, the practice of begging takes place in crowded areas.

Based on Figure 2, Muslim beggars (red lines) appear to form two patterns on their begging routes, while Hindu beggars (light red lines) form only one pattern. The targeted areas of Hindu beggars are more scattered than their Muslim counterparts, which form a clustered pattern. However, their routes of panhandling were observed as a pattern because Hindu beggars in Sanglah were larger in number and more easily found along these routes than Muslim beggars.

In general, Muslim beggars start their activities at 07:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m. WITA. They visit settlements and shops whose owners must be Muslims. In other words, they do not visit non-Muslim traders or shop- and homeowners due to self-restriction based on their belief. This rule applies to all Muslim beggars on the first and second routes. Furthermore, Muslim beggars on route one ride on a pickup truck for IDR 2,000/person to move from the trade centre to the shopping area on Jalan Gajah Mada. The distance between the two sites is about 1.5 km, and riding on a pickup truck can save time and energy. The targeted sites in the shopping area are gold and clothes shops. Furthermore, beggars on routes one and two finish their daily panhandling at some of the closest places of worship at the end of their route.

The field observation identified three mosques used by beggars at the end of their daily panhandling activity. They were Masjid Raya Ukhuwah on route one and Masjid An-Nur dan Masjid Raya Sudirman on route two. Beggars would wait for the pilgrims to finish their midday prayer at these mosques before returning home. Some of them were picked up by their families, while the others used public transport for USD 35 cents/person. Figure 3 shows some of the areas targeted by Muslim beggars for panhandling for money in Sanglah.

Fig. 3

On the basis of the discussion above, the spatial distribution of beggars depends on the characteristics of the targeted areas. These areas have to be strategic locations where economic and human activities take place and are situated close to one another. In connection to this, the spatial distribution forms a clustered pattern, i.e., where several objects form a group and are located close to each other. The proximity of one object to another increases the panhandling efficiency in terms of time and energy. In line with this, Sirojuzilam (2006) explains that the location theory is a theoretical explanation that is associated with the spatial plan of economic activity. It has always been linked to the geographical location of limited resources, which in turn will affect and impact the location of various economic and social activities. This theory is perceived as a representation of the phenomena occurring in Denpasar City, especially in Sanglah.

Based on the results of the two-month survey, Hindu beggars did not limit the targeted areas for their panhandling. This finding is contrary to Muslim beggars who choose areas or objects owned by Muslims. In conclusion, Hindu beggars are more flexible than Muslim beggars in the places they visit. Hindu beggars do not pay attention as to whether the owners of these objects are Hindus, Muslims, Christians, or others. For instance, Hindu beggars were seen asking for money in Muslim food stalls, as well as mobile phone stores, residential sites, and shops owned by non-Hindus. Their unlimited selection of targeted areas is attributable to their status as Balinese natives that come with an advantage of familiarity and feeling of being free to visit any places they want.

Spatially, Hindu beggars do not form a definite pattern in their practice. Unlike Muslim beggars, they target areas flexibly and, therefore, their practice of begging does not form a clustered pattern. Hindu beggars also differ from their Muslim counterparts in the duration of panhandling. Muslim beggars start in the morning and end at noon, where they sit in silence on the terrace of the mosque while waiting for the pilgrims to finish their worship. Meanwhile, Hindu beggars were seen in several areas in Sanglah from 8:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. WITA. Some of them were still found in front of convenience stores, such as Indomaret or Alfamart on Jalan Nusa Kambangan, at 7:00 p.m. WITA.

Figure 4 shows the locations visited by Hindu beggars in Sanglah. The irregular pattern is concluded as the effect of no time regulation that binds them, unlike Muslim beggars. For this reason, the spatial distribution of Muslim and Hindu beggars differ in their targeted or visited objects, routes, and the duration of panhandling in one day. These variations are apparent when depicted in a map and correlated with the route of panhandling between the two groups of beggars.

Fig. 4

Hindu beggars carry out their panhandling activities from morning until afternoon (08:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. WITA) or from afternoon until evening (later than 10:00 a.m.–7:00 p.m. WITA). The most significant difference between Muslim and Hindu beggars is that the latter does not visit the places of worship for Muslims. Also, they do not ask for money at Pura or Balinese Hindu temple on a routine basis because this facility is used during certain ceremonies only.

The interviews with Hindu beggars revealed that they did not spend much time around Sanglah. Instead, they walked along Jalan Teuku Umar, which is a shopping area, through Jalan Batanta Island to reach Pemogan, South Denpasar. At the time of field observation, Hindu beggars were seen around Pemogan at 3:00 p.m. WITA. Afterward, they walked to Simpang Siur (Dewa Ruci Intersection) in Kuta, Badung, until evening. Simpang Siur is indeed very crowded because it is the main route to a world-renowned tourist destination (Kuta Beach), some souvenir shops, and the airport. On the contrary, Hindu beggars did not spend much time in Sanglah because of increasingly frequent raids by the government and the mushrooming of Muslim beggars in the area. Aside from reduced income, panhandling for money in Sanglah means a higher risk of being arrested because the Public Order Enforcers have categorised Sanglah as the centre of mendicancy in Denpasar City. Therefore, Hindu beggars prefer to look for crowds in other regions.

Muslim and Hindu beggars also have different panhandling strategies. These strategies are clothing style, language, strategy to draw sympathy, duration of panhandling, and daily earned money. These differences are explained below.

Beggars wear two styles of clothing, namely normal daily and tattered clothing. Muslim beggars wear normal clothing, i.e., long clothes, skirts, and headscarves for Muslim women and long- and short-sleeve shirts modified from Chinese tui-khim clothes for Muslim men. Meanwhile, Hindu beggars wear tattered clothes. The field observation proved that Muslim beggars were indeed distinct from Hindu beggars, and the most noticeable difference was their clothing style.

Because Muslim beggars wear regular daily clothing, they are not easily recognised. Without prior knowledge, people will not immediately perceive them as beggars. Unlike them, Hindu beggars tend to wear dirty and tattered clothes that make them quickly recognised. Despite the distinctive clothing styles, there is a similarity between the two groups of beggars, namely a bag hanging on the left shoulder. The researchers found that almost all beggars, especially female, carried a reusable shopping bag.

In the practice of panhandling, Muslim beggars speak Indonesian, while Hindu beggars use Balinese. Religion affects how beggars communicate with potential benefactors. In this case, Hindu beggars tend to use Balinese because it is the local language used daily in their interaction with the community. As for Muslim beggars, they use Indonesian as a communication tool because they do not speak Balinese regularly.

In reality, panhandling is a two-way interaction in which a person asks for money using various strategies to potential benefactors who decide to ignore or grant him/her money (Qiao et al. 2017). Therefore, a strategy to draw the sympathy of potential benefactors is essential in this practice. In the study area, Hindu beggars uniformly apply one strategy, that is, putting on pitiful facial expression. Meanwhile, Muslim beggars adopt various strategies, including praying for prospective benefactors, putting on their pleading facial expressions, and playing musical instruments to attract attention.

These findings are in line with Erlandsson et al. (2019). Their study has found that beggars in Sweden sell magazines, play musical instruments, or ask for money from passersby while sitting with a mug near grocery stores. Kongoley (2017) adds that street beggars in Freetown, Sierra Leone, pretend to be sick and disguise themselves as blind, deaf, or paralysed persons to draw sympathy. Also, in Heraklion, Greece, the strategy of panhandling includes sitting in shabby or tattered clothing, approaching the tourists one by one, playing music and singing world-famous songs, and performing some attractions, such as dressing up like Charlie Chaplin (Andriotis 2016). These entire strategies are intended to draw the sympathy of prospective benefactors or to make them feel sorry and, then, give money to beggars.

Generally, Muslim beggars work less than eight hours a day, from morning until the midday prayer. Meanwhile, Hindu beggars usually work longer. However, this research found that out of the 41 respondents, only six of them (14.6%) worked more than eight hours, while the remaining 35 beggars (85.4%) worked less than eight hours. The dominance of working for less than eight hours corresponds to the practice of begging identified in Kumasi, Ghana. Sekyere et al. (2018) divide the beggars in Kumasi, Ghana, into two groups, namely those panhandling between 5:00 and 10:00 in the morning and between 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.. In other words, the duration of begging in Kumasi is merely 4–5 hours. Likewise, the beggars in Sanglah usually work for 6–7 hours. This duration has its advantage, i.e., the practice of begging can be conducted flexibly, freely, and quickly.

The results of the cross-tabulation analysis between the religion of the beggars and their daily earned money are presented in Table 3.

Based on the results of the cross-tabulation analysis in Table 3, the average money earned by Hindu beggars per day is higher than that of their Muslim counterparts. Unlike Muslim beggars, no Hindu beggar makes less than USD 3.52 (IDR 50,000.00) per day. Also, 10 out of the 13 Hindu beggars in Sanglah earn more than USD 7.03 (IDR 100,000.00), while the other three beggars make USD 3.52–7.03 per day. Meanwhile, 12 out of the 28 Muslim beggars earn more than USD 7.03, 12 of them earn USD 3.52–7.03, and the other three beggars make less then USD 3.52 per day.

A previous study in Riau, Indonesia, shows a similar result which states that a beggar's earning from panhandling ranged approximately IDR 50,000 to 200,000 (Lestari 2014). While in Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia, panhandling only earn less than IDR 50,000 (Setyaningrum 2014). These studies show different economic conditions among places in Indonesia. However, those earning means nothing if not linked to the cost of living to know if someone falls below the poverty line.

According to Statistics Indonesia (BPS), the term of poverty describes a condition where a person's income falls below the poverty line, which is the minimum amount of funds to fulfil daily needs such as food, shelter, health and clothing. According to the Cost of Living Survey (Survey Biaya Hidup) by Statistics Indonesia, the minimum cost of living in Denpasar is as much as USD 375.37 (IDR 5,336,109.00). Hence, the monthly income of the beggar, which is mostly no more than USD 21.10 (IDR 3,000,000.00), is arguably not enough to fulfil their needs for decent living. Beggars cope to survive by suppressing the expenses, such as living in a slum.

This condition also occurs in India. According to Frederick et al. (2016), the average money earned by beggars in India is Rs. 200 or IDR 40,000 a day. This figure is considered high, therefore beggars refuse to leave panhandling as their main economic activity. This way, beggars can make easy money without much effort. Malarvizhi and Geetha (2016) explain that panhandling has become a profession that is difficult to leave because it does not require a large amount of energy to earn much money.