THE young man from West Sumatra spent his time that morning in vain. He chose to park his Mitsubishi Lancer car in front of the Nagoya shopping complex, Batam, in the Province of the Riau Archipelago. And as usual, he shared a cigarette with a friend. This is the ritual that Indra has carried out every morning for the last two years.

Indra is officially not unemployed. For some eight years now, this 32-year-old man has been officially classified a