Some food delivery riders in Indonesia were moved to tears after receiving food orders placed by overseas netizens demonstrating their support following protests in the country.

TikTok user aktaasli, an Indonesian delivery rider, thanked a Grab user from Singapore in an emotional video uploaded on Monday (Sept 1), which has since been viewed 1.2 million times and has over 200,000 likes.

In the video, the teary-eyed man said he has had less gigs as roads were closed, and schools and offices were not open.

He then showed a chat record on the Grab app with a customer, who said that she is from Singapore, and the order is meant for delivery riders in Indonesia.

Wiping away tears, aktaasli said that foreigners empathised and cared for them.

@aktaasli Terharuu 🥺 trimkasih orang baik #ojoltiktok #tiktok #akta #viralvideo ♬ suara asli - AKTA

He added that he and his friend had received several similar orders, where platform users told them it was not for delivery and to distribute it to others.

Meeting up with his friends, who gleefully expressed their thanks, aktaasli cried again as he told them that a Singapore customer had ordered the drinks.

The nationwide protests began on Aug 25 over Indonesian lawmakers' pay hike and escalated after the death of a young delivery rider who was run over by a police vehicle on Aug 28.

Subsequently, social media users rallied to send riders aid in the form of food, groceries and even medical supplies through mobile delivery platforms like Grab and Gojek.

These platforms allow consumers to order services in various Southeast Asian countries, even if the consumer is in another region, revealed X user sighyam, who goes by the moniker Yammi.

Guys I just found out that you can support indonesian grab riders who are still out on the streets because grab allows you to make deliveries in other SE Asian countries?? OKAYYYY

— yammi (@sighyam) August 30, 2025

Yammi suggested thatone could set the location to Indonesia and place online orders, leaving a note telling their assigned delivery riders to consume or distribute the aid to their family, fellow riders, or those in need.

And that's exactly what netizens did.

TikTok and X users shared screengrabs of their food orders online, alongside pictures of the items being distributed by riders.

Some netizens also encouraged tipping the riders afterorders are marked as completed.

Another delivery rider also took to TikTok to express his gratitude to users from Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand who had sent food to Indonesians through food delivery apps.

"This has been happening for days," user Bang sem said in his video, which has since garnered over three million views.

The man added that "about 20 per cent" of the orders are from Malaysians, offering his sincere thanks and covering his eyes, as if to hold back tears.

@bang....sem solidaritas dari Malaysia #malaysia #indonesia🇮🇩 #solidaritas_tanpa_batas ♬ suara asli - Bang sam

lim.kewei@asiaone.com