'Gongers' put up with a rough deal

Gede Gender, Contributor, Sanur

Wedged together like sardines in the back of a grubby dump truck whilst huddling under a dirty tarpaulin, twenty poor men make every vain effort to avoid a tropical downpour, a daily occurrence during the wet season in Bali.

The journey is long and bumpy and there is standing room only on board. If it were not for their neatly ironed safari jackets, pleated sarongs and gold-gilded head-cloths, you'd think they were being hauled off to do time.

Musicians in Bali indeed put up with a lot for a pitiful Rp 12,000 (US$1.50) a gig. I've met talented bamboo musicians who are paid only Rp 7.000 (U.S. 85 cents) by an international chain hotel and that's for two hours of non-stop music!

This shocked and sickened me. I had to ask, "Why do gongers (slang for gamelan players) succumb to such treatment? Who is to blame? What can be done?" With a fistful of questions, I sought to solve the mystery of this "cultural rape". A casual chat with friends and hotel musicians revealed some disturbing facts.

Perhaps due to the fact that, historically, gamelan was played by rice farmers and artisans, its musicians have always been thought of as lower class. Gamelan players tell me that in traditional society musicians were rarely paid with money, rather with food, returned favors, and most importantly, respect.

Music was for the Gods or performed for local royalty. Playing the gamelan was something you did at night after returning home from the fields -- there were few other activities and TV was barely unheard of. Life was simple and money was not a big issue for most people -- there was always a way to find enough to feed the family.

Today, life is different. Balinese culture is now bought and sold under the guise of mass tourism and gamelan music is no exception. Sadly, as with any product, it has a price and to this day the price of traditional music in Bali is labeled cheap.

Not only that, but cheap and undervalued. A friend of mine who is a hotel musician and a pop singer complained how differently he is treated in each role. As a pop singer he is spoilt with drinks from the bar, fed, and has a hotel room provided.

He is warmly welcomed by hotel staff and there are stage assistants available to help with instruments and lighting. Not to mention the fee -- three gigs per week is enough to live off.

On the contrary, when he's a gonger, he and his friends (some of whom are elderly) must lug around the heavy bronze gamelan instruments themselves, they're told where not to sit, what not to do, and where not to go.

There's definitely no hotel room, no food and if he's really lucky he will get a plastic cup of water with a straw! He plays, the cameras flash, his manager flicks him $1.50 and he is shipped off home in a gravel truck. It should in fact be the other way around. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to spot the inconsistencies here.

It seems that hotels think that this difficult, highly coordinated music is simple, old-fashioned, and therefore worthless. Often in modern society, "traditional" is equated with backward, unintelligent and therefore cheap.

On the other hand, "modern" is hip, out-there, and fetches a high price. It is no wonder that more and more young Balinese are turning their heads in the direction of the world of pop, rock and fusion music.

Another friend recently toured overseas for a month as a member of an avant-garde gamelan-fusion group, and returned home with enough dollars to renovate to his house. Try saving up that sort of money from playing traditional gamelan in the local hotels! Yet the room rates are in dollars ...

If traditional performing artists were paid better, young Balinese would, on the contrary, feel more proud of their art forms, strengthening their cultural identity and preserving their heritage.

Some humble musicians choose to blame themselves for their mistreatment. They feel that as artists they are generally not adept at selling themselves. They often fail in negotiations or are sold short by middlemen and corrupt hotel entertainment managers.

Interestingly enough, the government has stipulated a minimum fee for gamelan performances. However this is rarely adhered to, not up with the times, and in any case hotel "gamelan raids" are almost unheard of. It is also possible that some hotels may not even be aware that such a standard exists, resulting in them dictating the going rate.

After foraging around, I've found that local people do in fact recognize these cultural injustices, however little has been done. This is perhaps because they do not know where to turn.

Put your price up as a musician and there's always someone else who will agree to do it cheaper -- perhaps with less talent, fewer musicians and no spirit, but nonetheless cheaper. As a short term "purchase" this may suit the hotels but in the long run it has dire consequences -- apathetic and low quality performances, dragging down the image of colorful and creative Bali.

Ironically, it is the talents of gamelan musicians and other artists that make Bali what it is today, not the hotels, shopping centers, night clubs or karaoke bars. Art and culture are what visitors remember Bali for -- there are, after all, many cheaper tropical destinations offering just sun, surf, sex and shopping.

Surely, the hotels should be ashamed enough, charging exorbitant rates to guests who have come to Bali to experience authentic Balinese culture. They should be provided with the best Bali has to offer. Is a little cultural appreciation too much to ask?