'Thek-thek' groups spice up campaigns

'Thek-thek' groups spice up campaigns

Agus Maryono and Amin A Abdurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Banyumas, Central Java

The general election is only four months away, and political
parties have started campaigning in the villages.

Traditional thek-thek bamboo music groups in Banyumas regency,
which use kentongan made from bamboo tubes, as the main
instrument, have attracted the attention of the major parties.
The Golkar Party, Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-
P), National Mandate Party (PAN) and the National Awakening Party
(PKB), have all hired them for campaign events.

Thek-thek groups, which emerged about six years ago, stole the
show at almost every political event, from the celebration of
party anniversaries to ceremonies to welcome visiting party
executives.

Some even held thek-thek festivals and awarded trophies
engraved with the party name to the winners.

Villagers used to beat kentongan to alert people to danger
such as fire or natural disaster. Village officials might also
have beaten kentongan to summon people when they wanted to make
an announcement.

Currently, there are more than 300 thek-thek groups in the
regency.

The first was established in Banyumas about six years ago. In
the beginning, the numbers were small and they only performed on
certain occasions such as the parade to celebrate Indonesia's
independence on Aug. 17.

Perhaps due to the great public interest in the new art, thek-
thek groups are mushrooming. In 2000, the organizing committee
for Independence Day celebrations was overwhelmed as hundreds of
groups were interested in taking part in the carnival.

The committee then organized a thek-thek festival to
accommodate all of them, but the number of participants was still
enormous. The festival started hours after the originally
scheduled time.

Therefore, in the following year, only the best groups from
each of the 27 districts were allowed to take part in the
carnival.

It turned out, however, that such a policy encouraged thek-
thek groups to flourish. District administrations found it
difficult to select representative groups for the Aug. 17
carnival.

So, thek-thek festivals are staged at a district level to
determine the best groups. As a result, Purwokerto and its
environs are always enveloped by the sound of kentongan when
Independence Day draws near.

A thek-thek group consists of about 30 people. They practice
on the street at nightfall. Many, attracted by the rehearsals, go
to watch.

The highlight of the performance is the majorettes, usually
two or three beautiful women clad in sexy, traditional outfits.
They behave like the majorettes of a drum band, swaying their
bodies and dancing to the accompaniment of the thek-thek, which
plays traditional music, dangdut and even religious tunes, one
after another.

When dangdut singer Inul Daratista shot to stardom, the women
would not hesitate to dance in her controversial "drilling"
style.

The instrument of thek-thek, kentongan of different sizes, is
easy to find, which may explain why it developed rapidly in a
relatively short time.

It is also easy to play. The player beats the instrument with
a bamboo or wooden stick that is tied with a rubber band at its
end, just like an ordinary stick.

To produce a kendang (traditional small bass drum) sound, the
group needs several bamboo tubes that are bigger than those used
for kentongan. They are covered at one end by a thin rubber
membrane from a used car or motorcycle inner tube. The tubes are
beaten by sticks like the ones used for kentongan.

Thek-thek group members acknowledge that political parties
were interested in their artistic ability to influence the masses
but added that the choice belonged to individuals.

"We don't object to performing at such events. Whether the
party is red, green or yellow, we don't care. What's important is
that they don't force us to join their party," said Suparman, 34,
a thek-thek group leader from East Purwokerto.

"We have no problems with uniforms. If we perform for PDI-P,
we wear a red uniform to conform to their color. We also do the
same thing if we perform for other parties. But we maintain that
whatever the color, no party symbol should be visible," he added.

In fact, thek-thek groups also make the best of the situation,
as was seen during last year's Aug. 17's carnival. None wore
their own uniform. They were clad in uniforms provided by the
sponsors, including cigarette companies, banks or even a local
supermarket.

And what did political party executives say?

"We are trying to be realistic. Thek-thek is popular in
Banyumas. Why don't we make use of them?" said Musadad Bikri,
head of the Banyumas branch of the PKB, which held a thek-thek
festival recently to celebrate the party's anniversary.

Most of the participants wore green outfits and some were clad
in uniforms and accessories that carried the PKB symbol.

"We happen to support PKB so we don't want to play at any
festival held by other parties. But if it were organized by the
public or a company, that would be fine with us," said Saliman,
29, from Ajibarang district.