Malioboro freelance guides live by their wits in the tourist trade

By R. Fadjri

YOGYAKARTA (JP): A band played slow rock music for the patrons of the Borobudur Bar and Restaurant. Several local young men with long, lank hair sat engrossed in a private conversation with a Western man and woman.

They appeared oblivious to the music, and their laughter occasionally rang out as they consumed alcoholic drinks.

The men are among around 100 freelance male guides who operate in the Malioboro neighborhood of Yogyakarta. Unlike their licensed counterparts who are employed by travel agents, these guides use their wits to target lower to middle income tourists. The tourists usually stay in cheap motels in Malioboro or Prawirotaman, where rooms are available for as low as Rp 5,000 per night.

Although the guides stand out as locals among the tourists at the row of bars along Jl. Pasar Kembang, they try to adopt the ways of the foreigners. They favor long hair, tight jeans and garish jewelry on ears, necks, and fingers. Some of them bear tattoos on both arms.

They are a community which has developed its own norms amid the rapid pace of Yogyakarta's tourist world. Their ostentatious public behavior, which includes hugging or even kissing their clients along Malioboro street, singles them out from other local citizens.

Guides claim it is not unusual for the relationship between them and a female tourist to develop into sexual intimacy.

Yulius Sukamto alias Kantong, 39, a senior among the guides, said he occasionally forged intense relationships with tourists. He said it was only natural that a mutual attraction developed as the guides and tourists spent nearly the entire day together.

"If both are attracted to each other, it becomes their own private business," he said.

Local residents and hostel owners do not care about what occurs behind closed doors between the tourist and guide.

For guides of Kanton's age, sex is a secondary part of the relationships.

"We think about our profession in terms of the future," the father of one child said. He is the owner of a hostel and batik business in the vicinity of Prawirotaman. "I'm looking for customers to stay in my place, And, at the same time, I'm selling my batik."

Some of the younger guides, such as 21-year-old Andi, are drawn to the prospect of a sexual relationship with the women.

Most of the guides have a senior high school background and picked up their knowledge of English from the streets. They start conversations with stereotyped inquiries -- "Where are you going? Where are you from? What's your name?" The assumption is that all foreigners speak English.

There are rivalries among the men. Guides may demand a right to escort tourists if they see another man in the company of several foreign woman. These confrontations sometimes escalate into violence.

The relationships usually take the form of a holiday romance, with no direct payment made by the tourist to the guide.

"No transactions are made on both sides," Andi confirmed. The relationships last for the brief period of the tourist's stay in the city.

But some couples embark on a serious long-term relationship which eventually leads to marriage. In these cases, the tourist might stay on until her tourist visa expires. They usually make a quick trip to Singapore to extend the visa and return to Yogyakarta to resume the relationship.

"Tourists do not really mind our social level," Kantong said. "If they really like a guide, they would not care if he is a batik maker or a becak driver -- it would be no barrier to marriage."

Kantong, who comes from Purwokerto, Central Java, last December married a Canadian tourist who teaches French in her homeland. He is planning to follow his wife to Canada once his application for permanent residence is approved.

Young guides are less interested in settling down.

"Why should I marry in a hurry. I'm still young," Andi said.

Guides of Kantong's age are more likely to give serious consideration to marriage. In addition to the aspect of love, marriage to a foreign tourist opens up new business opportunities.

Kantong said many of his friends who married foreign tourists had been granted permanent residence status in Europe and Australia. The majority of them are in the batik business.

The end of a relationship does have its risks, as Kantong experienced. A Dutch woman reported him to the police after they broke up. He relates that the woman loved him very much. They decided to live together, and the woman took care of all his material needs.

One day, they had a serious quarrel and decided to part.

The woman demanded that Kantong return all the items she gave him, and called the police.

"She accused me of being deceitful," said Kantong. "But the police could not do anything since we had no written agreement and, more importantly, we were not married."

For guides like Andi, the small income they might earn from being a guide is secondary in importance. Sometimes they receive commissions if the tourists buy souvenirs from art shops. They do not mind even if they do not get a payment. All they want is to have fun without paying much money.