FOR a brief moment, this woman with a headscarf was hesitant. She tried to gather up her courage. It was getting late. “If I don’t immediately go home, I will have to sleep at the roadside,” she said to herself.

“Sorry, Sir, can you help me, please,” she said weakly to a policeman standing in Jalan Jatinegara, Jakarta. The policeman smiled kindly, reassuring her. “I must return to Sukabumi but I’ve got no money left. Can you help