Like the quote from the song Rek Ayo Rek, Tunjungan is still the main attraction of the city. However, in the midst of the pandemic, the region will live according to the existing situation.
By
Ambrosius Harto Manumoyoso, Agnes Swetta Pandia
·5 minutes read
AMBROSIUS HARTO MANUMOYOSO
A teenager brings his pet dog on Jalan Tunjungan, Surabaya, East Java,. Since November 21, 2021, the Surabaya City Government has launched the Tunjungan Romansa program to attract more visitors, which is expected to encourage an increase in economic transactions. However, since early February 2022, the Covid-19 pandemic situation has worsened, so that restrictions on community activities have been carried out again to suppress transmission..
Surabaya cannot be separated from Tunjungan, an iconic location that is closely related to the classic stories of "The City of Heroes". During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Tunjungan area is still alive with its romanticism.
”Rek ayo rek mlaku mlaku nang Tunjungan. Rek ayo rek rame rame bebarengan. Ngalor-ngidul liwat toko ngumbah moto. Masio mung senggal-senggol ati lego....”
(Buddies, let's go for a walk to Tunjungan. Buddies, let's get together. We're pacing north-south through the shops to wash our eyes. Even if there's just a nudge, our heart is relieved).
A part of the song Rek Ayo Rek by Alphonsius Is Haryanto illustrates that Tunjungan is the heart of Surabaya, East Java. The picture is still valid, including during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Since the launch of Tunjungan Romansa, 21 November 2021, when the second wave of Covid-19 subsided, every night, especially on weekends, music entertainment, pantomimes, painting communities, and typical snack carts from micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) have been presented.
How nice it is to come after 6 p.m. to enjoy the atmosphere of Jalan Tunjungan and take pictures. An hour later, at 7 p.m., musical entertainment echoed in five locations of the 800-meter long area.
On one occasion, songs from the Pop Jazzy group accompanied pedestrians as they crossed the sidewalk in front of Edison, an electronics shop in Tunjungan. After shopping for shoes and sandals in Bata, next to Edison, several pedestrians enjoyed and joined in singing songs from Pop Jazzy. They were not shy to dance and laugh a little so that it invited the smiles of some of the other visitors.
AMBROSIUS HARTO MANUMOYOSO
Music groups entertain visitors on Jalan Tunjungan, Surabaya, East Java. Cultural arts activities on Jalan Tunjungan have begun to be promoted through the Tunjungan Romansa program since November 21, 2021 as an effort to restore the area's glory as an icon of the City of Surabaya..
By entertaining from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., Pop Jazzy repeatedly thanked the visitors who were kind enough to put money in the violin case.
Surabaya residents also did not mind queuing according to health protocols to get dawet, pudding, ote-ote, or other distinctive snacks. The stalls, which are occupied by MSMEs, attracted visitors and brought sustenance for traders.
According to Uus, the owner of De'nil Pudding, on an ordinary day his turnover is around Rp 500,000. However, on weekends, the turnover can reach Rp 5 million, 10 times the usual amount, from sales between 3 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
“On average, the weekly turnover is Rp 10 million and it is always crowded on weekends. Even, when it's crowded, even though the stall hasn't opened yet, the buyers are already lining up," he said.
Mila, the caretaker of Pecel Semanggi, said the same thing. In Tunjungan Romansa, selling from 4 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., the turnover is many times higher than selling elsewhere. "The presence of buyers at Tunjungan Romansa makes my turnover increase dramatically, reaching millions of rupiah, whereas previously it was never that much," she said.
The head of the Surabaya Culture, Youth, Sports and Tourism Office, Wiwiek Widayati, said that in a month since Tunjungan Romansa opened, from 21 November to 22 December 2021, 18 MSMEs reported sales of Rp 275.325 million. The MSMEs are assisted by the Surabaya city government and are licensed to take turns every two weeks selling at Tunjungan Romansa.
"Their turnover has been boosted due to increases on visits and economic transactions," she said, Monday (7/2/2022).
Wiwiek estimated that the number of visitors to Jalan Tunjungan, especially from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., could reach 6,000-7,000 people in a day.
Kompas/Bahana Patria Gupta (BAH)
A food seller on his bicycle crosses the road during Tunjungan Romansa on Jalan Tunjungan, Surabaya City, Wednesday (24/11/2021). In addition to enjoying the food that is sold, residents who visit are served by the appearance of musicians.)
Impact of Covid-19
However, in the last three weeks, the Covid-19 situation has worsened in Surabaya. The increase in daily cases from the launch of Tunjungan Romansa to mid-January 2022 was still below 10 cases. Now, in a day the number can reach 1,200 cases. Efforts have been made to stop the widespread transmission through social restrictions, one of which is the temporary stoppage of cultural arts entertainment since 1 February 2022.
According to Ony S from the Street Singers Group, the worsening pandemic situation has been a blow to art and culture activists for Tunjungan Romansa. The sustenance that used to be present from entertaining the visitors of Jalan Tunjungan was temporarily diverted to the streets to enable them to make a living.
"We hope the pandemic situation can improve soon so we are allowed again to seek sustenance in Tunjungan Romansa," Ony said.
The Tunjungan Romansa program will continue to be developed so that it is sustainable and truly able to restore the glory of Jalan Tunjungan as in the past.
Surabaya Mayor Eri Cahyadi was forced to make restrictions due to the worsening pandemic situation. Currently, Surabaya is implementing level 2 public activity restrictions (PPKM), so that all social and economic activities, including on Jalan Tunjungan, are subject to tightening.
"The Tunjungan Romansa program will continue to be developed so that it is sustainable and truly able to restore the glory of Jalan Tunjungan as in the past," said Eri.
Jalan Tunjungan deserves to be part of the collective memory and pride of the citizens because it accompanies the journey of the nation's life. On Jalan Tunjungan there is the Majapahit Hotel (formerly the Yamato Hotel), where the Dutch flag was lowered, then the blue part was torn off, before it was hoisted again to the top of the flagpole as the Red and White flag by youths in September 1945.
Jalan Tunjungan, as said by the Surabaya cultural observer, Irmina Maria Silas, is part of the Old City area of Surabaya, starting from Kalimas (Tanjung Perak), Jembatan Merah, Tugu Pahlawan, Tunjungan, Gobernur Suryo, to Balai Pemuda (Surabaya Square).
Like the quote from the song Rek Ayo Rek, Tunjungan is still the main attraction of the city. However, in the midst of the pandemic, the region will live according to the existing situation.
