Courtesy of Waldjinah

At 67, Waldjinah looks more beautiful and radiant than ever. Her secret? Avoid stress, never exert yourself beyond your limit and live your life gracefully.

Nothing can possibly compare to Waldjinah when it comes to keroncong, the pop music of eastern Indonesian origin with a Portuguese touch. Keroncong singers of later generations are apparently incapable of taking her place yet. Not only famous at home, Waldjinah is also well-known abroad, especially in Japan. She has sung hundreds of songs during a career that spans more than 20 years.

Waldjinah recalls her vocal talent was already apparent as a child.

“When I was a second-grader, my older brother used to sing ‘Oh, Bintangku’ [‘Oh, my star’] but he couldn’t do it very well. After listening to it a few times, I was able to sing it. So he asked me to practice with him, but since we would mostly stay up late to do so, I would get too sleepy to go on,” said Waldjinah, whose brother belonged to a keroncong orchestra.

Earlier in her childhood, she was used to listening to her mother’s bedtime rhymes. ”Mother used to lull me to sleep by singing various macapat verses [verses of Javanese literary works]. That’s why I was fond of chanting the same poetry.”

As a primary school student, she used to represent her school in singing contests. At the age of 12, Waldjinah won the top place in Ratu Kembang Kacang, a prestigious keroncong competition in Solo and from then on, she was dubbed “Ratu Kembang Kacang” (literally, bean flower queen). She reached her peak in 1965 as the Indonesian Radio Star champion.

Apart from receiving a trophy, Waldjinah had the opportunity to meet independence proclaimer and first president Sukarno.

“At the time, I was pregnant and Bung Karno [Sukarno] gave the name Bintang to my future child,” she said proudly.

Between 1968 and 1969, the langgam song (a keroncong variant mostly with Javanese lyrics), Yen Ing Tawang Ana Lintang, Cah Ayu (When stars are in the sky, my dear) composed by Andjar Any, again brought her to fame. In the same period, her rendering of Walang Kekek (Grasshopper) also emerged as
a big hit.

“I don’t know who created the notation for Walang Kekek. It’s anonymous. I just wrote its lyrics,” said Waldjinah, who demonstrated a few lines:

“Walang kekek/walange kayu/walang kayu/tibo neng lemah/Yen kepingin yo mas/arep melu aku/Yen mung trimo/tak kon joga ngomah
“E… ya ye… ya e ya... E ya ye… yae yaiyo ayillo.”
(A grasshopper of wood/falling to the ground/If you wish, my brother/to be my partner/Only if you’re ready/to take care of my home.)

Her high-pitched and clear voice remains, with her typical cengkok (tonal style), her major strength, as yet unequalled by the other keroncong and langgam singers, perhaps as a result of Waldjinah’s childhood practice of singing macapat.

“I just drink beras kencur [powdered rice and medicinal root] and honey to maintain vocal quality. I never drink iced water, let alone liquor,” added the recipient of the government’s 2006 Arts Award.

She mentioned two keroncong artists who contributed to her development as a keroncong vocalist. ”At the time, the state radio station RRI-Solo boasted two singers I liked most, Maryati and Sayekti. I learned from them, but they were unaware of it as I was simply listening while they were singing,” Waldjinah said.

In fact, Waldjinah is more than a keroncong artist. She can adapt her voice to many genres of music, including the songs sung by sinden (female vocalists accompanying gamelan) in wayang or shadow puppet shows. She sung pop music, when she performed a duet with (the late) Chrisye. But the mother of five has chosen to be true to her ke-roncong and langgam singing.

“It’s because my vocal style is indeed more suited to this music,” indicated Waldjinah at her residence on Jl. Parang Cantel, Mangkuyudan, Solo, Central Java.

She has toured the world singing keroncong, including Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, New Zealand, Holland and Greece. In Suriname, Waldjinah performed for a full month. “I was on stage in the evenings and taught keroncong in the afternoons.”

Waldjinah is among the few singers invited to perform at state functions under all six presidents heading the country. During the Soeharto period, she was invited annually to sing at the presidential palace. “The honorariums I got were not so big but I was proud to meet all presidents,” she noted.

At home, Waldjinah continues to promote keroncong so that it never dies. She has turned her garage into the secretariat of the Indonesian Keroncong Music Artists Association (HAMKRI), where keroncong lovers gather and train. She remains an ardent promoter of keroncong, teaching all school-age students this music, which she believes is rooted in the motherland.

Her vocal versatility has led to another offer for a duet with pop singer Edo Kondologit. “But I
wish to stay with keroncong till I die,” she said.

Now nicknamed “Si Walang Kekek”, Waldjinah keeps spreading her wings along with her beloved keroncong and Javanese langgam. She still accepts invitations to stage performances, although not as often as she used to before, dressed in Solo-style attire made up of a kain (wraparound cloth) and kebaya (long-sleeved blouse).

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