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Unemployed rely on street ‘ondel-ondel’
Giant dolls: Two vehicles carrying a group of street performers with ondel-ondel figures make a stop at the Kwitang traffic light in Central Jakarta on Dec
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iant dolls: Two vehicles carrying a group of street performers with ondel-ondel figures make a stop at the Kwitang traffic light in Central Jakarta on Dec. 19.(JP/P.J. Leo)
Ondel-ondel, the giant effigies of Betawi culture, are regarded as an icon of the capital but for many unemployed in the city they are a source of income.
Groups of jobless people, whether of Betawi descent or not, frequently hit the streets of Jakarta with the giant effigies, along with a small stereo cassette player replacing a traditional Betawi musical instruments, and a bucket to be filled with money from passersby. The groups have led to concerns about a dilution of genuine Betawi cultural values.
But for Subhan, 26, taking part in the street performances is his only option for making ends meet and he has been doing so since 2016. The high-school graduate previously worked as a two-year contract clerk at a convenience store before taking to the streets.
He said he had been applying for retail jobs since his contract ended, but to no avail. After one year of unemployment, he eventually decided to join an ondel-ondel street performance group of four people, based in Senen, Central Jakarta, just a few blocks from his home.
“I am not married yet, so I can earn enough to buy myself food. But I don’t think that is the case with my friends who already have kids to feed,” he told The Jakarta Post recently, adding that he could earn an average of Rp 50,000 (US$3.43) per day.
Subhan said he was still actively sending out applications in the hope of a better job, but he had yet to receive any good news.
Taufik Hidayat, head of Mamit CS, a 34-year-old Betawi cultural studio in Kramat Pulo, also in Central Jakarta, said many unemployed third-generation Betawi people resorted to ondel-ondel street performances for a living, especially given the lack of invitations to perform at events.
“Many of us are only junior or senior high-school graduates. We don’t have anything to do when we don’t have shows to perform, so we might as well go onto the streets,” Taufik said.
He said performance groups in his studio had started going onto the streets in 2010, with the initial plan of promoting the culture among children. It was in 2016 that two of its three groups started using recorded music in place of a set of Betawi musical instruments.
Without the instruments, a group can comprise fewer people, allowing performers to earn more individually. In the original setting, ondel-ondel groups should consist of around 12 people to play the six instruments and operate a pair of the giant puppets.
Taufik said the increasing emergence of ondel-ondel street performances began in 2016, when many people within and out of the Betawi community made use of recorded music to form street-performance groups. That way, members were not necessarily required to be able to play the instruments.
“I agree that ondel-ondel has been commercialized, particularly by those not of the Betawi community, but it’s still their livelihood, so I can’t say anything,” Taufik said.
JM, 45, is one of the non-Betawi people who make use of ondel-ondel to earn a living. Having migrated from Pemalang, Central Java, in the 1990s, he struggled to find work given his lack of qualifications. His applications for jobs as a sanitation worker and driver were stymied by the bitter fact that he did not have the required education.
JM earns a living through scavenging, which earns him Rp 40,000 a day if luck is on his side. As his earnings were not enough to feed his five children, he started to collect money to buy three ondel-ondel puppets. He then employed “freelance” performers to hit the streets with the puppets, all of whom are unemployed young people from around the Gaplok traditional market in Central Jakarta.
“We fully realize that ondel-ondel is a part of the culture of the Betawi community. But we are just looking for money to buy food, we are not doing anything harmful,” he said.
The emergence of ondel-ondel street performers is a matter of concern to the Jakarta administration, which has announced a plan to control such performances.
“We will teach them how to correctly represent Betawi culture instead of banning them,” Jakarta Culture and Tourism Agency acting head Asiantoro previously said. (ars)
