Trampling of plastic drum covered with used tire accompanied by melodic line of calung and angklung, the traditional instruments, contributed to the noisiness in Gloria Street, Petak Sembilan, Glodok, West Jakarta. The sellers and buyers in the area seemed hypnotized by the song. Some of them were dancing.

“It is good music. I do not understand Javanese language, but it is good for dancing,” Soediro (44 years), the owner of drugstore in Gloria, said.

The music and Javanese song were not played by professional musicians. It was played by five street singers from Tegal, Central Java. They are Wahab (27 years), Choki (19 years), Anggi (17 years), Sufi (19 years), and Firman (18 years).

Wahab said he and his friends specifically gathered as calung street singers. Calung, the bamboo instrument, is a popular art in Tegal. “It is traditional, but it is still fancied,” he said.

The five young men said that they were actively involved in calung art at their hometown. Until 2007, Wahab initiatively made his hobby as a job in Jakarta. With 1.5 million IDR as a capital, Wahab bought calung, kendang selo, angklung, and krecekan. All of them are Indonesian traditional instruments. Then, Wahab asked his four friends to join him.

To attract people, the group often wears unique clothes. When they were in Glodok, they wore army uniform with batik scarf in their waist. Instead boots, they wore gladiator sandals and blue socks on their foot.

They claimed that they never forced people to give them money. “Seeing people happy and dancing with us make us happy,” he said. They also never complained about their income. On a day, they often get 70,000-200,000 IDR. “It is divided evenly because all give the same contribution,” Wahab explained.

Sometime they are invited to a wedding party. The two million IDR payments can be used as additional income for them. “We also invite other calung street singers,” he added.

The group has dealt with the hustle life of Jakarta for five years. They are grateful that they can survive. “Praise the Lord, our effort is not useless. We still can eat and even send some money to our family,” Sufi said. 

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