'Gongers' put up with a rough deal

'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?