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Music institute helps buskers leave streets for malls and studios
He took a turn for the better in 2017 after he joined the Depok-based Street Music Institute (IMJ), a nonprofit organization helping street musicians.
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Sinyo (center) sings with his band Sindikat at an event held in the Smesco Convention Hall in South Jakarta on July 7. The band members are former street buskers who joined the non profit Depok-based Street Music Institute (IMJ) to turn their lives around for the better. (JP/Alex Sinaga)
Sinyo started busking at the age of seven, singing on Jakarta city buses, striking a tambourine against his hip.
He fondly remembers he did it for the very first time with the sole intention of collecting money to buy a dove. Life surprised him – he made it in a single day, sooner than he had expected.
It was a success that set the course of his life. From then on, he has called busking his profession to financially support not only himself but also his relatives. The little Sinyo, whose real name is Suryadi, was then his family’s breadwinner.
His tenacity was first put to the test when his parents divorced when he was still in junior high school. A few years later, amid family financial turmoil, his mother got married and had another son. To help out his mother and to pump up his own spirit, Sinyo vowed to work even harder to get his brothers to high school so they could find decent jobs.
“Not only that, I also funded my youngest brother’s marriage,” the 30-year-old said proudly.
Sinyo is one of many street singers that residents can bump into in public places like roadside food stalls, restaurants, bus stations and certain recreational spots.
Few know that busking in Greater Jakarta is in violation of a 2007 bylaw on public order, which carries a sentence of between 10 and 60 days in jail and/or a fine of between Rp 1 million (US$71) and Rp 20 million.
