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Bali’s thriving traditional markets
Life begins to stir at 3 a
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ife begins to stir at 3 a.m. near traditional markets in Gianyar regency, Bali, with farm trucks lining the streets with fresh produce and supplies.
Ubud’s busy market in Gianyar regency, Bali. — Photo by Brent Leavell
An hour later, the merchants are opening and supplying their rented kiosks and stalls while the walk-in sellers vie for an open floor space in the courtyards.
Sipping Balinese coffee at a mere cost of Rp 1,500, farmers and traders exchange hands full of cash next to the supply trucks, while women carry the newly purchased goods on their heads into the market grounds.
As the vendors prepare for the masses, the roar of motorbikes can be heard pouring out of the highland villages as the buyers advance on the market. Modernity in the way of motorbikes and cell phones has hit Bali hard recently.
By 5 a.m. the market is packed full of buyers and cash exchanges are rapidly take place.
Culture and economic activity is thriving. The scene is hectic yet friendly.
The vast majority of the buyers and sellers are women. An older woman in a traditional batik sarong points and explains to her granddaughter how to bargain with the seller for fruit intended for ceremonial offerings.
Not a day passes for Balinese Hindu families without religious offerings.
The offering means tribute, obligations or gifts to deities, ancestors and demons alike and is expressed in the form of flowers and fruit arrangements and hand-crafted decorative fixtures.
Market employees meander through the vendors collecting vendor fees at Rp 1,000 per square meter for the daily space.
An old-tired looking man struggles to carry a basket of produce and lays his goods out on a cloth at his floor space. The market staff does not charge him for his space, possibly taking pity on his poor condition and situation.
Practically every daily need is sold at the market. Agriculture products abound like most traditional markets throughout the country. Fruits and vegetables, meats, live animals, textiles and, of course, ceremonial fixtures and products related to adat [customary laws and traditions] are predominately displayed.
Surveys taken in a latest economic geography study, supported by Fulbright, demonstrate the Balinese are committed to the markets because they can bargain for price, socialize and they can purchase their cultural requirements, adat.
In fact, according to 400 surveys and 50 detailed interviews with Balinese buyers and sellers, 80 percent of the products in the traditional markets in Gianyar are related to adat.
“Almost everything in the traditional market is related to our adat. It’s the place where Balinese can go to complete their adat, one-stop shopping,” says Gusti Ayu of Bona.
“Once on a three-day cycle, the market is busy everyday now,” said Putu, one of the growing numbers of Balinese women entrepreneurs attempting to develop a business selling offerings and ceremonial decorations. Her income helps pay her daughter’s university tuition in the province’s capital of Denpasar.
By 7 a.m. most of the mad rush has tapered to a trickle of last-minute shoppers.
In most markets, a revival of activity will play out later in the evening as the night market comes alive with food vendors, imported cloths and traders. With the rituals, the future of the traditional market in Bali seems secure for the time being.
“The traditional market is very important to Balinese culture but we are worried about the competition with mini markets, supermarkets and the condition of the buildings, we need more funding for renovations,” according to an official at Bali’s trade office.
Gianyar regency administration appears proactive in protecting the traditional market’s future in a realization of its economic and cultural importance.
The markets sell culture and culture is big money in Bali – it not only is a primary reason tourists visit the island but the culture is in the very fiber of Balinese existence and Balinese will go to great lengths to conduct ceremonies that cost well beyond their means.
The costs are often driven by the strong belief in Balinese Hinduism, competition within the village, and powerful adat laws, which require each Balinese family compound to comply with the list of ceremonies or possibly face expulsion from the village.
In order to comply with the adat, the Balinese shop daily at the markets for ceremonial goods, which creates vast opportunities for Balinese entrepreneurs to support their families and the agriculture sector to prosper.
Given the strong cultural significance in the country, more attention and research on the apparent links between adat, micro-business development and traditional markets should be considered if Indonesian livelihoods and agricultural endeavors are to be improved.
Traditional markets are important to the country’s economy and culture yet serious efforts are needed to make structural improvements, clean up the markets grounds and provide a healthy safe environment.
Each improvement offers an economic opportunity for yet another entrepreneur and potential revenue for the villages.
Promoting a strong traditional market economy for stakeholders to engage in business at any level is a viable consideration for enhancing agricultural opportunities and inspiring an entrepreneurial spirit and attending to cultural vitality.
Traditional markets have all but vanished in the developed world, with limited venues for entrepreneurs to simply attempt a business and earn a living.
Yet, traditional markets in Indonesia offer an opportunity for entrepreneurs to learn business skills, participate in the economy at a very low cost, for less then the cost of a cup of coffee.
The writer is a Fulbright scholar who recently completed traditional market research in Indonesia.
