Rain or shine, business as usual at Bandung bars

Rain or shine, business as usual at Bandung bars

By Kafil Yamin

BANDUNG (JP): Night shadows fell and the heavy rain had just
petered out. Barely 20 minutes later, all the executive rooms of
the BIO Karaoke & Bar on Jl. Soekarno-Hatta were occupied.

It was a full house.

"You want to book? Sorry, you will have to wait until one of
them leaves," a waitress told a visitor.

Join the queue -- a group of about 10 people bided time
drinking beer and smoking at the bar as they waited for a room to
open up.

BIO Karaoke & Bar is one of the nightspots in this West Java
provincial capital doing brisk business despite -- or maybe
because of -- the economic meltdown.

It is no cheap escape from the gloom. The Rp 30,000 per hour
for an executive karaoke room -- with a minimum two-hour booking
-- does not include additional charges for soft drinks, beer or
snacks.

There is also the obligatory extra of a so-called "singing
guide". She is charming company but her voice coaching skills, or
lack of them, come at a fee Rp 25,000 per hour.

Two hours of warbling away to your heart's content in the
executive room could dent your pocketbook to the tune of at least
Rp 400,000.

A regular said he usually spent Rp 600,000 to Rp 700,000 for
three hours. "Occasionally, when we're having fun with friends,
Rp 2 million to Rp 2.5 million is normal."

The presumption might have been that weakening purchasing
power would have the karaoke bar owners singing the blues.

In reality, exclusive entertainment spots in Bandung are
packed nightly with revelers.

"It's rosy business right here, maybe because the crisis is
driving people crazy," said Nadia, marketing manager of the
Imperium International Hotel. "So they come here to forget it".

She said the number of patrons rose steadily in the past three
months, including during the Moslem fasting month of Ramadhan.

"During Ramadhan, when people usually exhibit self-restraint
in entertainment, patrons kept coming."

It was usual for people to spend Rp 1 million or more on a
night's relaxation, she said.

Luis Fernandez, secretary of Studio East Music House, said
most of the venue's regulars were producers of basic commodities
and grocery store owners.

Kadir, a retailer in Cimahi in western Bandung, said he knew
many of these businesspeople. He believed most were fishing in
murky waters in their business practices.

"Some of them may be hoarders of lubricants, milk, cooking oil
and other items that are not affected by the rupiah slide since
they are produced at home, but they nevertheless raise prices two
or threefold after hoarding them," he told The Jakarta Post.

Grocery store owners do the same, Kadir said.

"Soon after when demand is so high and prices go up, they
release their stocks.

"With double and triple profits, you can go to karaoke singing
halls and spend one or two million rupiah. Why not?."

But what explains the immense popularity of karaoke?

"Because karaoke is suitable for the old or men in their
40s," said a floor manager of Pasifik Klub & Karaoke. "Song
selections offer nostalgic tunes that remind them of their golden
days. Karaoke is also a good place for business lobbying.

"Middle-aged men would not feel comfortable in discotheques
more suitable for younger people."

State employees

Billiard centers are also crammed with fun seekers, not all of
whom are businesspeople.

Some are middle and low ranking government employees, whose
monthly wages are about Rp 400,000 to Rp 600,000.

A three-hour stint at a billiard center can cost Rp75,000.

A government employee said he usually played 20 times a month,
costing him Rp 500,000.

A waitress at the BIO billiard center said regulars included
employees of the National Land Reform Agency (BPN) and the Samsat
joint agency of the police, tax office and local administration.

"Some of them do gamble," the waitress said. "It can cost them
hundreds of thousands of rupiah".

One gambler, a BPN employee, said it was a case of what is
good for the goose is good for the gander.

"If an honorable member of the People's Consultative Assembly
gambles, why can't we?" he said in reference to the recent media
reports about a member detained by police at a gambling den in
Jakarta.