“Not a Gangster, a Preman!” Farry Malonda in Indonesia

Can gangsters be good, or can good people use gangster methods? In Indonesia, as in many other countries, the scale between these two is fluid. This article concerns the life history of Farry Malonda, who balanced these two extremes throughout his career. Farry’s past activities as a fulltime preman -a tough guy, a criminal, not adverse to using violence- landed him a reputation that helped him to develop legitimate business activities and social involvement. His activities combine trade, the championing of indigenous rights, nationalism and a public drive for social justice, which has gained him a broad societal position. Whether he acts as a ‘good person’ is important to Farry, and he wants it to be clear that he is not a gangster. Words matter, and this article demonstrates that ambiguous conceptualizations of criminals-cum-security providers may not easily be captured in such a single universal concept.