Blind street singer at Senen<\/p>\n
JP\/3\/SINGER\/0<\/p>\n
Blind street singer at Senen<\/p>\n
By Andreas Harsono -- 10pts metrolights CAP 1 col<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Like millions of other migrants, 35-year-old
\nMuhammad Muslim decided to leave his kampong in Kroya, Central
\nJava, three years ago to try his luck in the capital.<\/p>\n
For a man like Muslim, blind and without any formal education,
\nit was a momentous decision. It is said that only the fittest can
\nsurvive in an urban area such as Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, the peasant-turned-street-singer, whose nickname
\n\"Slamet\" literally means \"safe,\" believes that even a blind man
\ncan sometimes hit the bulls-eye. \"Life was getting more and more
\ndifficult in the province,\" he recalled.<\/p>\n
His was the typical Third World villagers' reason to migrate
\nto the city. Slamet remembers his parents as poor farmers. He had
\nliterally nothing to lose when he left his village for a new life
\nin Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Once in the capital, Slamet continued to work as a street
\nsinger. He concentrated on dangdut, an Indian-based form of
\nmusic, which has become tremendously popular among the lower
\nclasses throughout the country.<\/p>\n
\"I just like it,\" Slamet related, saying that he is a fan of
\nMansyur Subhawannur, the famous dangdut singer cum songwriter
\nwhose recent hit Pelaminan Kelabu (Blue Wedding) has sold almost
\na million copies (Mansyur told The Jakarta Post that street
\nsingers like Slamet contribute to the popularity of his songs).<\/p>\n
\"At first, he could only play an ordinary bass instrument,\"
\nrecalled Slamet's partner, the 34-year-old Asni. The bass
\ninstrument which Asni referred to is a mere wooden box with three
\nrubber strings attached to it.<\/p>\n
Asni, however, encouraged her partner to improve his musical
\nskills by playing a ketipung which is the dominant instrument in
\ndangdut music.<\/p>\n
The ketipung is a pair of small drums fixed together side by
\nside. They are of the same height, but have different diameters
\nand are beaten with the hands. It is similar to the bongo.<\/p>\n
It is intriguing to note that Slamet's ketipung was made of
\nPVC pipes and used X-ray film plates. Obviously he could not
\nafford expensive leather drums.<\/p>\n
At the time he asked a craftsman to make the ordinary drums
\nwhich cost some Rp 45,000 (approximately US$22), no small sum for
\nSlamet.<\/p>\n
Slum area<\/p>\n
Along with dozens of street singers, Slamet and Asni now hang
\naround the Senen bus terminal. They wait in the parking lot and
\ndemonstrate their \"talent\" to passengers when bus drivers take a
\nbreak.<\/p>\n
With his raspy voice and energetic drum beats, coupled with
\nAsni's impassioned high pitch in the background, they make a good
\nduet. Each earns Rp 4,000 and Rp 5,000 per day, higher than the
\nminimum wage for laborers of Rp 3,800. Sometimes other street
\nsingers join Slamet in Asni's absence.<\/p>\n
According to Asep Aripin, a teenage street vendor at the
\nterminal, Slamet and Asni are full of compassion and are always
\nready to help others.<\/p>\n
\"They are peaceful partners,\" Asep said, adding that it is
\nrather unusual to find such people in a rough area like Senen
\nwhich is a haven for hoodlums and swindlers.<\/p>\n
Slamet and Asni are neighbors in the slum of Pedongkelan. They
\nbuilt a semi-permanent shack, only two square meters, which has
\nbeen dismantled time and again by government officials.<\/p>\n
\"I just need a place to sleep at night without fear of being
\nevicted,\" Slamet said. Nevertheless, he recognizes that he could
\nnever raise his family in this kind of environment.<\/p>\n
Like many other Jakartans, the capital, to Slamet, serves only
\nas a temporary home. \"If I'm lucky and make enough money, I want
\nto go back to Kroya when I'm old,\" he dreams.<\/p>\n
His new wife, 27-year-old Winarsi, stands fully behind her
\nman's idea of returning to the kampong one day to care for her
\nstepson, from Slamet's late wife Tinah, who died last October.<\/p>\n
Thousands of poor migrants like Slamet lack the funds to send
\nsick family members to health centers. Slamet and Tinah were
\noften forced to endure rain and sizzling daytime temperatures as
\nthey roamed the streets in search of money.<\/p>\n
Her health deteriorated rapidly, and poor Tinah died while
\nstill entertaining dreams of a better life in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Apparently death is the best physician for poor people in this
\nmetropolis.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/blind-street-singer-at-senen-1447893297",
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