Life no cocktail for Jakarta's bartenders
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.