The thermometer showed 33 degrees Celsius. The heat enveloped the 2×2 square meter rental room in North Jakarta. The occupant, Lily, not her real name, flushes and fans her face with her hand. She is getting ready to busk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She walks to a small cupboard in the corner of the room and retrieves her make-up kit. She expertly applies powder to her face, draws her eyebrows, puts on fake eyelashes, and applies bright red lipstick to her lips. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once her make-up was done, Lily styles her hair into a simple bun and pins it up. “I do this every day,” Lily told Konde when we met her on January 10, 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lily is the 13th of 16 children. She is a trans woman from Bogor District who moved to Jakarta in 2013 to earn a living. Lily busks from noon until 5.00 pm. When her singing income is not enough, she continues to make money as a sex worker in the evenings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“There have been times when I spent time busking all day long, spent money paying fares, but returned home with no money at all,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her busking earns her IDR 1.7 million monthly. She uses Rp 500,000 to pay for her room, and sends Rp500,000 to Rp 600,000 to her mother in her home village. The rest is spent on food, work expenses, a mini speaker, soap, and makeup. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This lack of income is why Lily often borrows money from fellow trans women. Lily is trapped in a vicious cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She takes the train from Duri station and arrives in Tangerang some 30 minutes later around 2:49 pm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really hot today. First I will wait for Ashar to finish, then I will busk and dance,\u201d Lily told Konde.com. She adds that it would be improper to sing or dance while people are praying<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The hot weather made sweat run down her face and she has to pat her face with a tissue to keep her make-up from smudging. She sometimes sounds short of breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNow I have shortness of breath. When I breathe I tend to sound like someone snoring,\u201d said Lily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She says that the thick air pollution sometimes made her unable to work. Lily also suffers from hypertension. \u201cI have a disease that must be checked once a month. I have high blood pressure and must take medicine every day. I have vertigo and often have sore throats,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not just resting, she also visits a doctor to check her body\u2019s condition. She has to take several types of medicine, such as Paracetamol caplets 500 mg, Dexamethasone tablets 0.5 mg, Amlodipine Besilate tablets 10 mg, and Metformin HCL 500 mg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM) website, shows that Paracetamol is a drug commonly consumed to relieve fever, mild pain, and headaches, including aches and flu. Dexamethasone is for allergies, arthritis, and autoimmune diseases, Amlodipine Besilate is for hypertension, and Metformin HCI is an anti-diabetic drug that regulates blood sugar levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before Lily got her Health and Social Security Card (BPJS Kesehatan) in 2021, Lily had to spend Rp110,000 monthly on treatment and hypertension medication. “After having BPJS, I only need to pay transportation costs when traveling for a check-up,” she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another trans woman, Lina – also not her real name – is also in a similar situation. She escaped to the capital after being traumatized by an incident in her home province of Aceh. This is where Islamic Sharia laws are partially in force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2014, Lina, who worked as a sex worker, became the victim of violence. Her rented room where she exercised her profession was raided by unknown persons. Lina was dragged out of the house and paraded to a village post near her home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Like a sea of people,” recalled Lina, who admitted that she could not forget this incident when she met Konde in November 24, 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I was beaten, grabbed, shaved. They paraded me naked and threw sewage water at me,” she said of her ordeal as she was paraded around. She was later forced to sign a statement that she would not repeat her deed or risk public flogging under the Qanun laws. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Migrating to Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital, never crossed Lina’s mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The most significant change she felt was in her health. Once in Jakarta, Lina started having shortness of breath every time she worked. She said Jakarta’s air pollution also made it difficult to earn more. While working, she wears a mask to protect herself and reduce coughing. But this results in her regularly reapplying her makeup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Not to mention the climate, which is now really hot. And pollution is everywhere,” Lina said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These conditions also made her prone to sickness. She suffered from bad cold cases. At that time she did not have a health and social insurance card (BPJS Kesehatan). She had to spend money from her own pocket to buy medicine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Realizing the importance of the BPJS Kesehatan, she applied for it with other trans women. \u201cI have BPJS now,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even though they work at night, said Lina, it does not mean they are free of air pollution. While working on the street at Taman Lawang, a leafy park in Central Jakarta, a condition she believes is slightly better. However, not when they have to leave the park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Additionally, construction activities in Jakarta are mostly carried out at night, releasing dust that she inhales. \u201cI often feel my throat itchy. It\u2019s even difficult to breathe when I go out,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To keep her stamina, Lina spends hundreds of thousands of rupiah each month on vitamins and supplements. She takes them every day to maintain her health. Without it, she would feel sick when outside. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLike it or not, I have to buy supplements,\u201d said Lina while showing Konde her medicine box.<\/p>\n\n\n\n