Java Cheering Up in Kampung Jawi

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Siswanto

Insults, derision and rejection failed to deter Siswanto, 47, from building Kampung Jawi, a Java-themed kampung in Kalialang Lama village, Sukorejo, Semarang, Central Java, which empowers the local residents while preserving Javanese culture.

Stepping through the gates to Kampung Jawi is like walking into another dimension. Just forget the modern world. Visitors feel like they are in a night market during the Majapahit Kingdom on the banks of the Kripik River.

Bamboo stalls with thatched roofs are neatly arranged in a row in the shape of a U. Wooden chairs and tables are in the middle. The dark sky is lighted by hanging lamps that burn like lanterns. The sound of the river provides a soft accompaniment to Siswanto as he talks about the joys and sorrows he experienced in creating Kampung Jawi.

“I was called a mad man by more than one person. Even my own mother, the local residents and officials once said I was crazy,” Siswanto said during a visit to Kampung Jawi on Wednesday (20/4/2022).

From an ordinary village, Kampung Jawi has become the economic and cultural center of Kalialang Lama people. Jawi in Kromo (high Javanese) means Java. According to Siswanto, Jawi does not refer to an ethnic group, but rather to the Javanese culture and high human values, like etiquette and good manners.

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Kampung Jawi, which stands on a plot measuring 2 hectares, has a traditional street food market with 18 stalls run by local women. They sell typical Javanese food and drinks such as sego tewel (rice with stewed young jackfruit), sego koyor (rice with beef tendons) and wedang (hot ginger tea). Residents who have no stalls can provide their dishes to the food stalls to sell.

The street food market attracts hundreds of visitors every day from Semarang and other cities, thus helping to drive the local economy. In January 2022, for instance, Kampung Jawi received 10,474 visitors that contributed a gross income worth Rp 440.09 million.

Uniquely, payments at this culinary destination use kepeng, square wooden coins that was the official currency of Indonesia in bygone times. One kepeng is worth Rp 3,000. Visitors can exchange their rupiah for kepeng at a kiosk beside the entrance to the street food market.

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Siswanto

Apart from the street food market, a hall offers residents and children training in gamelan, wayang puppetry, ketoprak (historical dramas) and traditional dances. It also holds annual arts events, including the Memetri Kampung Jawi (Honoring the village) in October and 1,000 Obor Kemerdekaan (1,000 independence torches) in August. Kampung Jawi welcomes tourists from organizations or groups interested in watching the performances and savoring Java’s traditional culinary delights.

In social terms, many of the local residents are involved in managing Kampung Jawi, such as in running the parking lot under a profit-sharing scheme. “The income from [the public toilets] goes to orphanages and there are charity boxes for mosques,” said Siswanto.

Residents’ pride

Kampung Jawi was born out of Siswanto’s concern over many things. An observer of Javanese culture, Siswanto feared the negative impacts from digital disruption on human life. The influx of information without proper screening could take over the minds of young people.

On the other hand, Kalialang Lama used to have only dryness, poverty, crime and landslides. “If I did nothing about it, I would have felt guilty and sinful,” said the father of three.

After he became the head of Neighborhood Unit (RT) 02 in 2015, he popularized the use of the Javanese language in all cultural activities

Siswanto originally started by holding Javanese traditional games like betengan (protecting a fortress). After he became the head of Neighborhood Unit (RT) 02 in 2015, he popularized the use of the Javanese language in all cultural activities.

A year later, Siswanto became the head of Community Unit (RW) 01. When he heard that Semarang Mayor Hendrar Prihadi had introduced the thematic kampung program in Semarang, Siswanto signed up. Kampung Jawi at Kalialang Lama village was finally registered in 2017.

However, Siswanto faced rejection after rejection. He once sent out around 100 invitations to communicate the plan to develop Kampung Jawi. Around 20 people came to the first meeting. Only a handful turned up at the next one. No one came to the third one. It was difficult to encourage residents to participate in an enterprise of which the benefits were unclear.

Siswanto yielded, but he had not given up. In 2018, he invited the local women to trade at a traditional tourism market called Pasar Jaten. On teak-planted land that belonged to the residents, the market opened every legi Sunday (first day of the five-day Javanese week). Sadly, the culinary market concept was still alien to residents, so their stalls were just ordinary and they were unwilling to pay their contributions. Siswanto had to spend millions of rupiah to pay for cultural performances.

After he successfully reached an agreement on the concept of Kampung Jawi with the residents, he called on them to move to the present location in 2019. He also tried to convince them that it was more profitable to sell food in the evening. Siswanto asked his wife Sholekhah to sell food on her own for several days as an example. The strategy worked.

The situation has now changed 180 degrees. Kampung Jawi is the pride of the community today. Nearly all officials in the region, including Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo, have visited the kampung. The government no longer ignores the village’s infrastructure development.

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Several stalls owned by residents who are part of Jawi Village in Kalialang Lama Village, Sukorejo, Semarang, Central Java, Wednesday (20/4/2022). This place was arranged by Siswanto, a cultural observer.

Siswanto no longer needs to borrow money from the cooperative of the company where he works, or sell his beloved mother’s car to build Kampung Jawi.

“Money belongs to God. I am proud that, at 9:30 every evening, the residents count their earnings. Watching this alone means everything to me,” he added.

Let us all preserve the Javanese culture.

Siswanto

Born: Semarang, 17 Oct. 1974

Education:SMA 12 Semarang senior high school (class of 1994)

Occupation:

- Founder, Kampung Jawi

- Cultural observer

- Private employee at PT Semarang Makmur Pranatacara

Family: Sholekhah (wife), three children

Organizational experience:

- Head of RW 01 in Kalialang Lama

- Chairman, Sukorejo Subdistrict Community Empowerment Institute (LPMK)

- Chairman, Kampung Jawi Tourism Awareness Group (Pokdarwis)

Awards:

- Winner, Culinary Tourism Village, Trisakti Tourism Award from the Central Board of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), 2021

(This article was translated by Aris Prawira)