ABSTRACT
Tracing back when and how a so-called siap' risk style has developed among some residents of the riverbank enables me to explain why and how people's habitual strategies became seriously undermined, and how they turned into orang siap. The orang siap in Bantaran Kali exhibit what might best be described as a defensive risk style. Tono was widely known as an orang ajar and cooperated with actors in the military and the government before he radically changed his behaviour and started to overtly protest the authorities instead. Tono was saving a share of his income for the goal of buying a Handie Talkie (HT), the radio set that is commonly used by orang ajar. Ratna was widely known as an orang susah and largely depended on her patrons for coping with risks until she developed a siap risk style and started to refuse any further aid or interference from them in her life.
