KUALA LUMPUR: When Indonesian driver Rizky Azhar received a food delivery order from Malaysia, he was surprised by both the location and the accompanying note, which said the plate of smoked beef with rice was for him.
The order was part of a surge in food purchases from other Southeast Asian countries for motorcycle taxi and delivery drivers in Indonesia, a show of solidarity for week-long protests around income inequality and generous perks for lawmakers.
The protests spread across the country when delivery driver Affan Kurniawan was run over and killed by a police vehicle in Jakarta, placing the low wages and income precarity of ride-sharing drivers at the heart of the demonstrations.
President Prabowo Subianto has said the police and military would stand firm against the protests, which have occasionally turned violent after Affan’s death and left 10 people dead.
But the images of students and workers on the streets have attracted a wave of solidarity, with people across Southeast Asia ordering food for delivery drivers and sharing the screenshots on social media.
