A TRACE of happiness was still left for Maesaroh. Her precious 1-gram gold pendant was priced at Rp104,000 by the Salemba Pawnshop, Central Jakarta. Its a fair sum for survival, said the mother of three now living on Jalan Percetakan Negara I, Jakarta. But Im not sure how long it will last, she added resignedly.

Maesaroh had to pawn her only piece of jewelry just to make both ends meet. The fuel price increase, put into effect by the government as