Child singers come of age on TV screens<\/p>\n
Cute moppets of both sexes slink across TV screens warbling
\ninane ditties about their fingernails or their nagging aunt. The
\nrecords sell but is it healthy to have kids grow up before their
\ntime? The Jakarta Post's Rita Widiadana and Yogita Tahil Ramani,
\nalong with Amorita of Jakarta Jakarta monthly shines a light on
\nchild entertainers.<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): She wears a black leather jacket teamed with
\ntight pants and a pair of high-heeled boots. With heavy makeup on
\nher young face and red lipstick on her tiny lips, she sings a
\nsong taken from her latest album while her body sways to the
\nmusic just like a lady rocker.<\/p>\n
She is not Madonna but 7-year-old Maissy Pramaishella. This
\nenergetic and charming little girl, along with other children
\nsuch as Enno Lerian, Trio Kwek Kwek, Joshua, Chikita Meidy,
\nInnez, Angie and Giovanni currently dominate Indonesia's junior
\nentertainment world.<\/p>\n
They are a new generation of child singers emerging after an
\nalmost 20-year interval, replacing the 1970s groups of junior
\nartists that included Chicha Koeswoyo, Adi Bing Slamet, Ira Maya
\nSopha, Yoan Tanamal.<\/p>\n
The establishment of private television stations in the early
\n1990s and the growth of recording companies played a very
\nimportant part in paving the way for today's child artists to
\nenter a competitive show-business world.<\/p>\n
Almost every day, these young artists appear on television to
\nentertain and, of course, to promote their most recent albums,
\ntargeting a preschooler to elementary-school-aged audience.<\/p>\n
So don't be surprised to find your children sitting in front
\nof the tube, especially between 3 p.m and 5 p.m, when most
\nprivate stations shower them with children's music and cartoon
\nprograms.<\/p>\n
Surya Citra Televisi (SCTV), for instance, broadcasts programs
\nCi Luk Ba and Dunia Anak (Children's World). Rajawali Citra
\nTelevisi (RCTI) has Tralala Trilili, and education station TPI
\nscreens Klab Klip.<\/p>\n
Junior artists range from toddlers, whose verbal skills have
\nyet to develop, well on to preteen girls and boys trying to
\nshowcase their singing talents through these programs. Some of
\nthem are quite good but many are terrible because they posses
\nneither the talent nor vocal skills required by a singer.<\/p>\n
People who deal with children, including psychologists,
\nteachers, songwriters and musicians also feel concern regarding
\nthe current development of child entertainers in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
A.T. Mahmud, a veteran child songwriter and educator, is one
\nof them.<\/p>\n
\"The children's world represented by most of these junior
\nartists today is far from a pure and innocent place any normal
\nkid should have live in,\" said Mahmud, who composed \"classic\"
\nchildren's songs like Pelangi (Rainbow).<\/p>\n
He said that the lyrics in most songs do not really portray
\nchildren's lives and lack educative and moral values that any
\nchild should absorb.<\/p>\n
Some songs encourage children to mock older people, like Trio
\nKwek Kwek's Tante Cerewet (The Nagging Aunt), which was a
\nfavorite children's song last year.<\/p>\n
There are also others packed with messages hardly understood
\nby children. Aku Cinta Rupiah (I Love the Rupiah) sang by a child
\nsinger portrays the present economic crisis. But how can a child
\nunderstand the message of the rupiah campaign launched by adults?<\/p>\n
The government's development programs are also expressed in a
\nnumber of songs, such as Si Komo Pulang Ke Desa (Si Komo Returns
\nto His Village), which is charged with promoting a rurality
\nscheme.<\/p>\n
\"These children are forced to sing \"sponsored songs\" without
\nunderstanding the words. What they do is just perform them in an
\nattractive way,\" Mahmud said.<\/p>\n
Fauzia Azwin Hadis, a professor of psychology at the
\nUniversity of Indonesia, warned that many parents of these
\nsingers have the ambition to move their kids into show business.<\/p>\n
Even if children sing horribly, their parents will keep
\nforcing them because they feel that outside of education, this is
\na way of striking gold, she added.<\/p>\n
As a matter of fact, child entertainment is a major and
\nlucrative business for those involved.<\/p>\n
Top singers like Enno Lerian, Giovanni, Trio Kwek Kwek and Ria
\nEnes and her doll Susan receive paychecks of between Rp 4 million
\nand Rp 10 million per show. Writers of children's songs also draw
\na lot of cash from the business. Papa T. Bob, a pseudonym of
\nErwanda Lukas, who wrote Si Nyamuk Nakal (The Naughty Mosquito)
\nand Du Di Dam, receives between Rp 10 million and Rp 20 million
\nper song. Other songwriters, like Toto Noor, Ririn S. and Harry
\nCh get Rp 2 million maximum, according to Theodore KS, a music
\nobserver.<\/p>\n
TV stations profit from commercial slots. Each company pays Rp
\n3 million to Rp 5 million per 30 seconds to advertise their
\nproducts, including candies, fast food, children's wear and
\nholiday packages during children's programs.<\/p>\n
Zoemrotin, a leading consumer rights activist, is worried that
\nchild artists will be exploited as \"commodities\" in the show
\nbusiness world ruled by adults who are responsible for turning
\ninnocent children into \"dolls\" that they like to dress up and
\nsend out to perform.<\/p>\n
Meidy Emde, father of singer Chikita Meidy, however, refuted
\nany charge of exploiting his daughter. \"What we are doing now is
\nchanneling our daughter's music talent and interest,\" said Meidy,
\nwho spent Rp 130 million (US$13,000) to produce and promote his
\ndaughter's debut album Kuku (Fingernails) when she was just three
\nyears old.<\/p>\n
On exploitation of child artists, Fauzia said there was a fine
\nline between honing a child's skills and exploitation.<\/p>\n
\"If the child is doing something on a rigorous and regular
\nbasis only for the sake of his and her parents, that's
\nexploitation,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Author Arswendo Atmowiloto said that the problems lied with
\nparents and other adults' failure to understand the world of
\nchildren. \"It is up to parents and other adults to decide whether
\nthey want to give their children the best world.\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/child-singers-come-of-age-on-tv-screens-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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