The green colour from spinach, and the red colour of chili, combined beautifully with this humble yellow-walled stall. For seven years, the stocky man who is affectionately called Bang Iki runs a grocery business inside a housing complex in Duren Sawit, East Jakarta.

"I started by pushing a cart until I have my own kiosk there," said Riski Ari Permana, 26-year-old, while accompanied by his wife.

Maybe it had never occurred to him, that there would be a pandemic event that forced him to adapt in order to continue to support his family. However, towards the middle of 2020, an outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 or COVID-19 rocked major cities in the world, including Jakarta.

Those who try to make a living by selling goods are faced with a fear of not being able to connect with their buyers, their customers who have previously been loyal to visit them. Not only to buy but also to chat, share stories.

[In The Time of Pandemic: We're Not Alone]

Learning to Adapt

But Bang Iki doesn't want to dwell in anxiety. After hearing the announcement of the Large-Scale Social Restrictions (PSBB) from the government, he immediately grabbed his smartphone. With his nimble fingers, he's typing something.

"Those who want to order vegetables, fruit, fish, we can. Ready to deliver it to your home," he wrote on WhatsApp.

Although his last education was in the junior high school level, he knew very well about the dangers of this coronavirus transmission. So, with his initiative, Bang Iki also applied physical restrictions on his shop. Obviously, for his own health and his loyal customers.

"Because we are not allowed to gather, I limit the number of customers in my shop to only five people," he explained. "We also recommend washing hands before and after shopping. We have a place for it. "

Unfortunately, not all of his customers can follow the instructions. With patience, he tried to explain the reasons why there were such rules.

"It's such a human nature, so sometimes there are also people who are still complaining. They were told to queue, but they said, 'I'm in a rush, I’m in a rush', " he added.

For those who remain at home, Bang Iki resiliently copies every order he receives from a chat into a piece of paper. "Chicken feet, chicken head, soup ingredients, galangal, bay leaves," that is just a fragment of an order from one of the customers named Ibu Yanti. To make sure each customer is satisfied with his service, Bang Iki is not reluctant to go shopping and finds an item that is not available in his shop. He did all that so that customers don't have to leave the house.

"The response is pretty good, Alhamdulillah. So people don't have to leave the house, we are the ones who are going shopping," Iki said, happy with the reaction from his customers. "Starting with one [customer], but thanks to the power of mouth to mouth, it spreads, and now there are a lot of them joining my service."

Bang Iki's initiatives are not without challenges or difficulties. The roar of the motorbike he drives sometimes has to stop in front of a closed gate. Not wanting to give up, he turned and looked for another route until he could finally reach in front of the buyer's house.

While wearing a batik cloth as a mask, he passed two to three plastic bags filled with groceries as ordered by the buyer.

The clock now showed seven o'clock in the evening, his shop was closed, but Bang Iki's steps had not stopped. He walked down the small alleys, still trying to complete his orders of the day. Though, he is not alone. In addition to his wife who looks after his shop, he is also assisted by two younger siblings in fulfilling orders.

Bang Iki was grateful. He revealed that the corona disaster has not impacted much of their income, thanks to his new way of selling groceries. However, he also did not forget to think about his fellow business owners who might not be as fortunate as him.

Message and Hope

The day was getting late, Bang Iki's phone rang again by the notification sound from his WhatsApp account. There is a new order for tomorrow. Before we parted, Bang Iki left a message for the people and the Government of Jakarta.

"The important thing is, we just need to follow what the government wants, I'm sure it's good for us. We must follow the rules. We must understand that there is a pandemic, and I'm sure it will end one day. And we are going back to normal again," he said.

"For the government, I hope they motivate people more. I am aware of how difficult that is.

"Most young people now understand it, they have good access to their gadgets. The older people are rather difficult. Maybe because they have never opened their cellphones, then the lack of information on television too. Maybe there has to be an order from the government directly to the head of RT/RW, to spread the messages.

"Or maybe they could form their own 'campaign team' for outreach. For example, they need to travel around the village to spread messages to its residents. Because maybe they will understand more if someone tells them directly rather than through the media," he concluded.