Valet boy is a term used in some countries to refer to young people who ask for fees to park at the roadside. Valet boys usually work in groups, and demand an RM

Malaysian ringgit

The Malaysian ringgit is the currency of Malaysia. It is divided into 100 sen...

 1-5 "parking fee" from car owners, under an agreement that they will protect the car. It is these very same valets, however, who do the vandalizing should the driver refuse to pay. This "protection" service is a form of extortion

Extortion

Extortion is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime...

. The valet boys do not park the car for the owner; rather they direct drivers into parking lots.
This practice has become common in large Brazilian cities, such as São Paulo

São Paulo

São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...

 and Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

, where numerous cases of "valet boys" vandalizing cars are reported every day. Similar schemes are also run in Argentina and Italy although often the person is not a 'boy'.

External links

• Encarta: definition of Jaga kereta
• Bangsar valet boys a nuisance
• `Jaga kereta', jockey menace in Bangsar