Those who have lived for quite some time in Jakarta would not find Si Doel Anak Betawi unfamiliar. Originally a children’s story, the first to use Betawian dialect, it was later adapted into a TV series that portrayed the marginalization of the Betawi people, the perceived “natives” of Jakarta, amid the progressive development of the city. Although some of the lyrics of the series’ theme song sound a bit rhetorical (“Anak Betawi … ketinggalan jaman… katenye?” that roughly translates to “Betawi people are barely catching up with progress… aren’t they?”), what the theme song says might have some truth in it: Betawians are often left behind compared with people from other ethnic groups in Indonesia. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2023. This book is an open access publication.