PENGAMEN (Street Musician)

Text and picture ©Eki Qushay Akhwan

It's rather enigmatic to translate the Indonesian word "pengamen" into English. Originally this word means a person who sings and/or perform music on the street for tips. Nowadays, however, the performance seems to be secondary to the tips/money. While some performers are really good and worth giving the tips, many are not good at all. Hence, the translation for "pengamen" could be street performers/musicians or simply street beggars depending on the quality of the performance.

Pengamen is quite a street phenomenon in Bandung. You can find them almost anywhere: on the city buses, commuter trains, traffic light junctions, and even street side parking like this one.

Bandung Daily Photo, Bandung Streets