Busking against the system: Street musicians fight for respect, legality

Indonesian regulations have long classified street musicians among society's riff-raff, disregarding their talents and positive contributions to the urban landscape despite growing recognition of informal workers as economic cogs. The Jakarta Post talked to a busker and a busker-turned-advocate about their fight against the system.

Every day after finishing his drum lesson at Sekolah Tinggi Bandung, Angga Prasetiya Anggoro grabs his cajon and heads out to the train stations in Bandung that serve as his stage.

The 40-year-old has been busking for a living in the West Java city since 2005, when he encountered a misfortune that took away part of his sight. With his impaired vision and the precarious nature of busking, his livelihood has always been vulnerable and unpredictable.

"What can this disabled person do?" is a response Angga often hears when he approaches establishments looking for a place to perform. "People often look down at me for my [physical] condition," he told The Jakarta Post.

Yet it's the social stigma against informal street performers that makes things truly unbearable for Angga and other artists like him.

Regardless of their talent, street musicians in Indonesia fall under the category of persons with social and community problems (PMKS), which also applies to beggars and the homeless. This classification explains why street musicians are not always welcome by either authorities or the public, and make them an easy target for public order enforcement, which can be harsh.

More often than not, street musicians are scrutinized as if they were devoid of skills and talent. But Indonesia wouldn't have its legendary musicians like Iwan Fals and Didi Kempot if they hadn’t honed their craft on the streets.

In June, a video showing an officer of the Pontianak Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) destroying a busker's ukulele went viral and angered internet users. The clip, in which the Satpol PP officer is seen smashing the instrument on a table, was taken down after the public backlash.

Following the incident, West Kalimantan Mayor Edi Rusdi Kamtono apologized in a video statement and promised to replace the instrument. But Satpol PP Pontianak denied the incident in a statement posted to its Instagram account: "The news about Satpol PP Pontianak destroying a busker's ukulele during a raid is not true. Instead, Satpol PP was destroying five ukuleles that the owners had not claimed for two years. Satpol PP has been regularly controlling buskers at intersections who are disrupting public order."

However, the existing regulations clearly indicate that the streets continue to be unwelcoming to street musicians. Aside from the PMKS classification, according to Article 432 of the draft Criminal Code (RKUHP) currently under discussion, people who loiter on the streets or at public facilities may be fined Rp 1 million (US$68) and jailed for up to three months.

Most street musicians view what they do as valid as any type of work, although they recognize that it is highly dependent on the generosity of others. Unfortunately, the law also regulates any potential benefactors: Jakarta Regional Regulation (Perda) No. 08/2007 forbids people from giving money to buskers.

Public opinion on busking and buskers also differ among individuals. Some, like university student Johanna Sulaiman from Jakarta, empathize with buskers who, "like anyone, [are] just trying to survive in this difficult city". Others, like bank manager Novi Akbar of Tangerang, Banten, view the majority of buskers as "a little lazy, often barely strumming their guitar or [ukelele] and not even singing in harmony".

Still, busking remains a major source of income for many and for some, their only source of income.

Standing up for street musicians

Andi Malewa is a former street musician. His 14-year stint on the streets motivated him to put an end to the discrimination against fellow street musicians, by establishing the Street Music Institute (IMJ) with two friends in 2014 for buskers based in Greater Jakarta, Semarang and Yogyakarta.

"The Street Music Institute is a movement that rebels against the discriminative treatment by the government and law enforcers. We are fighting for [a portion of] public space, which has never felt like an open place, especially for people like us," said Andi.

Entering its seventh year, the IMJ has taken its 400-plus members to showcase their talents at events, shopping malls and MRT stations.

Angga felt a significant improvement to his situation after he became an IMJ member in 2019. “I needed to take care of a lot of things before [joining the IMJ], from creating proposals, recording my rehearsals [and] to actively approaching hotels and other public spaces," Angga recalled. "I usually came back home with a rejection."

With the IMJ promoting their music, its members can shift their focus to improving musically. Angga and his band Musical Notes have been able to perform regularly at shopping malls, which brought not only a steadier income, but access to performing at a more disabled-friendly venue.

Thanks to Andi's persistence, the IMJ has now partnered with the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry and the Education, Culture, Research and Technology Ministry, a move that has made the lives of street musicians a little less unsettling. The partnership has even facilitated Ngamen Dari Rumah (busking from home), a virtual show organized by the tourism ministry during the pandemic.

Even further, partnering with tech giant Gojek’s e-wallet service Go-Pay has armed IMJ members with their own QR code, which has enabled listeners to give them tips that go straight to their account.

These are but a few of the efforts the IMJ has done to help street musicians, but the fight is not over yet. Andi said that accommodating street performers from other regions was the IMJ's next plan.

"Street musicians in other cities outside Greater Jakarta, Semarang and Yogyakarta are also facing the same problems. We have been trying to build a network so we can facilitate them as well," he said.

Buskers are just one group of informal workers who ply the country’s streets to make a living. They have long been excluded from society despite their contribution to urban spaces, indicating that many socioeconomic issues still need to be addressed.

More people working on the streets should lead to more questions about the complex, multisectoral problems that have landed them there. After all, most people don't end up on the streets by choice, but by necessity.

"We are not blessed with plenty of life choices. If we don't make it, we will lose our lives. Street musicians are only asking for space [to perform], a space that's technically ours to begin with, as we are also citizens. Is that too much to ask?" said Andi.