ABSTRACT
Ibu Bud is a Jakarta food seller, a remarkable woman and a friend. Yet two years after I first met her she still remains an enigma. How was it that she thrived when food sellers all around her went bankrupt? Why didn't her helper, Ibu Nanti, run away from her again? Was it only because they were both married to the same man, or because Nanti knew that the police would again be sent after her to bring her back to work on the food stall? Was it determination and ruthlessness, or mere luck, that accounted for Bud's survival?
