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New card allows Depok buskers to sing at malls, hotels
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Depok busker Danang Ismanto, 27, shows a card on Feb. 2 that allows him to busk at business sites like malls and hotels. (JP/Ivany Atina Arbi)
D
epok street musicians can now progress to a new level after the city administration on Thursday evening launched the Depok Super Card program, which allows buskers to earn a living at high-end business sites such as shopping centers and hotels although busking is deemed illegal.
Previously, the Depok administration, through a 2012 bylaw on public order, prohibited both busking and giving money to buskers.
Depok Mayor Mohammad Idris, who gave a speech at the launch, said he supported the program because city buskers could hone their musical abilities through the program initiated by the Street Musicians Institute (IMJ).
“We want our buskers to receive training about music from the institute so they can become quality singers,” Idris said at D Mall shopping center in Depok, West Java. The IMJ is known for its ability to develop street musicians from amateurs to professionals.
Buskers who possess the card and can perform at malls and hotels are those who have been trained by mentors from the IMJ through various classes, such as vocal, guitar, performance and attitude lessons.
Those who obtain the card must also pass an audition conducted by the IMJ at its headquarters in Beji, Depok.
