'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.