Yogyakarta's humanist punks rock on

By Tedy Novan

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Punk may be dead in the West, but it is burgeoning in Yogyakarta. Members of one punk community, know as Blackboots, are an everyday sight here.

Following in the tradition of some 20 years ago, the punks sport eye-catching 'Mohican' hair styles, with spiky, dyed hair in the middle of shaven scalps. Tight jeans, black military-style boots and tattoos complete their trade mark facade. An image closely associated with rebellion has deliberately been chosen by the community.

But while the universal appearance of punks may be similar, different groupings claim to stand for a variety of different causes.

In Yogyakarta, the "alternative community," as the 85 members describe their group, stands for "a culture of opposition and anti-fascism".

Musical members of the community have formed a band with the same name, Blackboots.

The community was founded by three students from the Indonesian Arts Institute (ISI). Group activities range from discussions on art, culture and politics, to the organization of musical performances, the production of comics, and holding painting exhibitions.

Saptoraharjo, a 27-year-old student activist and one of the community's founders, says that members sport military boots as an "anti-militarism" statement.

The membership consists of students from Yogyakarta's many institutes of higher education, such as the Indonesian Arts Institute (ISI), Gadjah Mada University and Atma Jaya University.

Since its inception in Nov. 1996, the community has grown into a company-like entity.

Music aside, the group is most famous for its members' skill in the art of tattooing. A small tattooing business is run from the community headquarters located in a small building in the tourist village of Sosrowijayan. They have received many commissions for tattoos and have also held workshops on the subject, besides displaying them on their own bodies.

"Although we have tattoos, Blackboots are not a bunch of uncivilized delinquents," says red-headed Aries Manyul, a guitarist in the band.

The tattoo business run by the group raises enough money to fund their activities and to set aside some savings, members say.

The secret of their success is the vitality and energy of the community members. "Everyone must be creative and productive, no one is allowed to be idle," Aries added.

Many similar communities lack creativity, he said, and do not help their members because they tend to become gangs. This leads to negative publicity and enhances the poor opinion held by the elder generation toward the young, he said

The community also produces a comic book in English and Indonesian entitled Bad Times Story. The comic sells for Rp 1,000 per copy and has been reprinted nine times, with each print run consisting of 200 copies.

"Our comic stories are characterized by the opposition of good and evil, played by angels and the devil," said Saptoraharjo, the author of Bad Times Story.

The community band often tours other cities in Indonesia, joining with acts from other parts of the country. They also regularly perform on university campuses in Yogyakarta.

The community claim to have branches in Bandung, Jakarta and Solo. Initially only young people were interested in the group, but interest is now spreading to older people. One member is an American-trained female doctor who often visits Indonesia.

"We might grow and function as a party," says a very optimistic Saptoraharjo.

Despite their obvious success, they say they have not yet achieved their goal of changing the image of rebellious youngsters among the older generation. After all, they admit that some of them do drink alcohol, although they claim to say their prayers regularly too.

Saptoraharjo, the vocalist in the band, says the only way to change the image of rebellious youngsters is "to continue to be creative and productive," and people may eventually view them in a better light.

In common with themes prevalent in their comics and songs, the group's philosophy, Saptoraharjo explained, is to acknowledge diversity. Not "to allow the definition of opposition, true or false, good or bad, because ... everyone's assessment is different."

"We identify ourselves as a group of humanists," added Aries.

A glimpse inside their headquarters reveals a little more about what they are trying to achieve. A poster of Che Guevara, a past symbol of struggle among the young, and other posters with a similar message have been hung on the wall.

Saptoraharjo refers to a "punk spirituality" -- freedom expressed in creativity, of which they apparently found little in their previous environments.

The basic message, says Saptoraharjo while pointing to a slogan on a t-shirt, is "fight the system!". And that perhaps sums up both their advocacy of the tattoo, commonly associated by the public with criminal elements in society, and their goal to educate the public using their own message, that some things may not be what they seem to be.