And just as there are many ways to become rich, these people try all kinds of ways to attain their goal. Many people think, that they all become criminals or at least add to the numbers of unemployed citizens. In fact only a small number become involved in crime.

However, what they finally do, depends very much on the connections they have in the big cities.

Most of them come to work as domestic help or as laborers in the building sector. Their relatives will help them to get a job. Others have more prestigious jobs, such as taxi drivers. These people only need to have a driver's license, they need not to know the roads and sometimes do not even have an inkling what area they have to go to.

Sometimes they start as apprentices, or as helpers in the shops or restaurants, but the good ones are of course not happy until they can start something on their own. So when they have enough savings, they may open a little stall, selling everything from sweets to sandals, all dangling from the ceiling of the little hut they have made out of some wooden boards. This work is not without danger, burglars may try to prey open the stall, which they leave unattended at night.

There is also the category of food sellers, the ones who sell food in their pushcarts. Every morning they push these carts, equipped with a stove, food, plates and a pail of water and a bench to crowded places and wait for their clients to come. The ice seller has to grind ice in the morning before he sets out, and store it in a container to prevent it from melting. He usually has a number of glass containers with colorful syrups and jellies. The food hawker has to prepare his food, so he can help his client fast and efficiently. When everything is sold out, he heads for home, tired after a day's work. These sellers faces "clean-ups" from time to time. A big truck comes, and his little restaurant with everything inside is taken to the police station. It is during these times, that we can observe their solidarity: as soon as the police is in sight, others are warned and they try to save as much as they can, by running away or hiding their belongings.

Another category again are the artisans, who work at hairdressing salons, or for dressmakers and tailors. It is about one of the tailors that I wanted to tell you about. To me he is a special one, because he has not only made it from rags to riches, but he also helped me to convert my rags to become dresses like those of the riches.

He is pak Didung, who used to occupy a little shop opposite my house. He too started small and was allowed to build a little shack in a fire lane between two houses. He bought a used sewing machine and sewed for the first few clients. But his clientele grew and soon he took in an assistant and another one and another one. He married a nice girl and she took sewing lessons to help in the business. She too seemed to be quite gifted, because soon she had her own female clients and I was one of them.

It was quite convenient for me, because in spite of modest means I like to dress like the "Jones's". Or better say that I don't want to spend too much money on dresses. I like to give my hand-me-downs to orphanages and to my servants, but once I had a dress made by a well-known designer and I felt I could never give that dress away, because it was too expensive to have it made. It is still hanging in my closet, it is sad that it can be made more useful.

My secret? My friend Dea, who is an impulsive buyer of nice dresses, always comes back from her trips abroad with a number dresses designed by Chanel, Givenchy, Escada or Donna Karan, just to mention a few of her favorites. I just have to borrow them, take them to Mrs. Didung and she will copy them for me. Sometimes I think I look even smarter than my friend who owns the original.

When their children grew up the Didungs bought a little minibus and drove them to school. But then the neighbor's children also needed a drive. So, why not take them too for a little sum to cover the petrol price and the maintenance?

They had to move from their place, because the owners thought it was too dangerous to keep them there. What if a fire breaks out and they have no exit to escape from?

The Didungs moved out with their seven assistants and found themselves another place whether they could install a telephone. Unfortunately the krismon (monetary crisis) came and in the first few months they thought their dreams were shattered. But not for long, because my friends and relatives from Holland, Germany, the US and other foreign countries found out that they could have expensive suites copied for very little money and Mr. Didung is now Internationally known for his skills. Mrs. Didung opened a small take out restaurant in a corner of their premises and since good food is more essential than good clothing, their business is thriving again.