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.
Over 1,100 kilometers (701.5 miles) from the Indonesian capital, Ayman Hareez Muhammad Adib decided to show his support, using the ride-hailing and food delivery app Grab to place the order that ended up with Rizky.
“The calls tell us all to contribute to what’s happening in Indonesia...to show support by sending food,” the 23-year-old Kuala Lumpur resident said.
The orders are usually accompanied by a note that reads the drivers can take the food or give it to their families.
Rizky received a similar message from Ayman on a slow Wednesday, when several schools and offices were shut in Jakarta over the protests.
“We were surprised that in recent days, some foreign nationals have shown concern for us,” he said.
On a major Jakarta street last week, hundreds of motorcycle drivers flanked a vehicle carrying Affan’s body to the cemetery. Most worked for Grab and Gojek, operated by Indonesia’s biggest tech company GoTo.
Grab has seen an uptick in orders from overseas for delivery within Indonesia over the past week, a spokesperson told Reuters, declining to say by how much or from which countries.
Tyas Widyastuti, Grab’s director of mobility and logistics, said the orders came mostly from Southeast and East Asia.
A GoTo spokesperson said the company’s ‘Treat Your Driver’ feature “has been welcomed by customers during this period as a gesture of solidarity with driver-partners” without specifying whether orders had been placed from overseas.
Motorcycle taxis are ubiquitous across Indonesia, including in the capital Jakarta, known for some of the world’s worst traffic congestion.
In recent years, drivers have routinely protested low pay, lack of employment security and unfair practices by ride-sharing companies. GoTo and Grab have defended their business practices.