Life no cocktail for Jakarta's bartenders

Endang Roh Suciati, Contributor, Jakarta

The clock shows 10 p.m: Amid a haze of smoke and pulsating music at a busy bar in Jakarta, the bartenders are busy doing what they do best.

Like jugglers, they nimbly twist, swing and catch the bottles, their two hands working in unison.

"It is part of our job. Not only the serving, but also smiling and talking to the people come here asking for a drink," Agung Prabowo, a bartender at a five-star hotel, said.

Bartending is a profession that involves long, tiring hours in sometimes difficult working conditions, including ornery customers and those who try to get out of paying their bills. But there are also rewards, not only in the form of tips but also building up a loyal clientele.

For 25-year-old Agung, work begins at 3 p.m. and continues for the next 11 hours, with clean-up taking another hour or so.

"If this is said to be hard work, yes, it's hard work. But if we do it with complete willingness, it is a fun job," said the slim, tall man who commutes to work by motorcycle.

He relishes the chance to meet others. "I've learned how to identify people's characters from this job, like how some people want to be entertained when they are sad, some not. The job has given me many friends."

Agung said he had never planed to be bartender when he was growing up.

"I didn't want to be bartender, but a movie with Tom Cruise, Cocktail, changed my life. It motivated me to be a bartender. And here is where my destiny brought me."

He started out washing glasses, wiping tables and other menial duties at a small cafe in Jakarta. He studied bartending from others, reading, browsing websites and practicing late into the night.

He has won several bartending competitions, is now the bar master at the hotel and makes enough money to support his family.

He is grateful to God for his job now, but still holds to his dream that one day he will be an entrepreneur. "Who knows, I can have my own bar or cafe in the future."

Other bartenders admit they have faced family opposition to their plans, especially the small band of women in the profession.

"The first time I informed my parents in Medan, they opposed my decision. I explained them that being a bartender is a profession, too, and I want to be a professional. Then they said OK, asking me to work with all my heart," said Melsa Hariani, a bartender at trendy Blowfish Kitchen and Bar in South Jakarta.

University educated, the 24 year old said she had learned that it takes skills to do the job, with a qualified bartender needing to meet international standards on mixing 50 types of drinks.

Melsa is doing well after one year in her job, but acknowledged the challenges, including being a woman in what is traditionally considered a man's profession and also being propositioned by male patrons.

"They thought I'm that type of woman. It is a risk of my job. We have to be strong," she said.

Tips help out in supplementing income.

"Once I got a tip of US$200 from an American couple. Maybe they were satisfied with my service," Wawan "Away" Rusmana recalled of his experience in bartending.

Away went into bartending during university to help pay his tuition; he liked it so much that he never completed his studies.

After 10 years of bartending, he is now managing a cafe with his colleagues. He has also set up the Jakarta Bartender Club.

"We are among bartenders trying to share information here. Training is also given," Away said during a breaking of the fast event held for bartenders on Jl. Jaksa, Central Jakarta, last month.

One of the aims is to eliminate the dismissive view of bartenders as "servants".

"Skills and knowledge are needed to be bartenders. We should speak English, remember the different kinds of drinks, have strong attitude, trained in preparing drinks, and also have good physical condition," he said.