Our Director of Communications, Simon Chambers has interviewed Ms. Arshinta, Director of YAKKUM Community, Health, Development and Humanitarian who has explained why the Indonesian Angkringan has been chosen as a symbol of this General Assembly.
Q: Can you tell us what an angkringan is?
A: An angkringan is a traditional food and beverage cart common in the Yogyakarta region, where people gather to eat and drink and talk together.
Historically, angkringan was started in Solo, Central Java, in 1943 by Karso Jukut. Karso innovated on his father in law’s local food business by selling beverages like tea, coffee and ginger alongside the meals his father-in-law had sold. The food and drinks were carried on foot through the neighbourhood, bamboo baskets (called terikan). Once Karso offered drinks, more people bought his food and drinks.
Karso’s business did not provide a bench or chairs. Buyers had to sit in any available space relaxedly by pulling in their legs, in a position called “nangkring”. This was the root word of angkringan, which is a combination of “nangkring” and “angkring,” which means carrying a cart. Karso’s business quickly grew, so he had to recruit more people from his village to help him.
His main partner, Wiryo Je helped Karto develop the business by managing the procurement and developing a very special blend of tea which is till now uniquely famous as Bayat tea, a thickly bitter but sweet hot tea.
In 1975, Karto was assisted by Medikidin to change the previously hand-carried baskets into a wooden push-cart with a bench to sit at. But before this cart innovation was created, the idea of an angkringan had already spread to other cities around Solo, especially in Yogyakarta (known locally as Yogya), where many students attended universities.
The angkringan model was first brought from Solo to Yogya by Pawiro in the 1960s and continued by Lik Man, angkringan offered famous specialties like Kopi Joss (putting burning charcoal into hot black coffee) and more varieties of food, especially small portions of wrapped rice with sambal and a piece of dried fish or sautéed tempe called sego or nasi kucing (cat rice) as it looked like the kind of small portion of rice you feed your cat with.
Angkringan soon became a typical life style choice of university students, as they were a place to buy cheap food and spend time sitting and chatting with friends. In addition to the low prices, another perk is the atmosphere of “conversation” and very flexible interaction between sellers and buyers. In regular restaurants, buyers or consumers rarely interact with the seller, but an angkringan provides an atmosphere of “Ngewongke Wong” (treating others as equally respected human beings). Angkringan , being only 1m by 2-3m in size, offer intimate opportunities for interpersonal communication, facilitating face to face conversations (Mayopu, Richard, 2021). Moreover, in angkringan everyone who comes in is seen as equal. It does not differentiate between migrants or native Yogyakarta people. Nor does it differentiate between the rich and the common. Therefore, angkringan is a place that respects diversity (VoI, 2021).
Interestingly people rarely do takeaways from an angkringan. Instead, they usually stay in the angkringan for hours, to chat with others. Even the seller often jumps into the conversation.Ms. Arshinta Director of YAKKUM Community, Health, Development and Humanitarian
Interestingly people rarely do takeaways from an angkringan. Instead, they usually stay in the angkringan for hours, to chat with others. Even the seller often jumps into the conversation. The topic can be anything, but some frequent topics include contemporary Indonesian political issues, bad behavior of politicians and celebrities, or daily events in their own community. Egalitarianism or equality seems to be the basic principle in the conversation so everyone is free to express their opinion, regardless of their background (Muzayin Nazaruddin, 2015).
Q: What role do angkringans play in the society and culture of Yogyakarta?
Angkringan strengthens Yogyakartan society’s image of being a student-friendly budget city as it provides affordable meals, a relaxed ambience to talk and to have different opinions (even towards “left wings” groups or opinions.) Furthermore having hundreds of thousands of students coming into Yogyakarta every year boosts the dynamic of Yogyakarta as a city with strong civil society movements, as Yogya, like many cities around the globe with large student populations, experiences the changes that are often inspired by middle class or by university students; A number of leading civil society organizations in Indonesia were started in Yogyakarta by university scholars from all over Indonesia but studying in Yogya.
The format of angkringan conversations facilitate this, as the informal and egalitarian culture of angkringan is used to present the critical opinions from the artists, comedians, activists and scholars in public. In the old days, when politics was controlled by the military and elite and people were prohibited to talk openly about different political discourse in the Soeharto era, angkringan was used as the place for comedians to deliver jokes, and artists set radio dramas in angkringan, using the poor or low income groups as the setting, with highly intelligent mature political understanding in the dialogue.
Today, such political comedy and commentary is presented on television or in open stage performances; even in the anniversary commemoration or specific religious days celebration such as Christmas by local Javanese churches, angkringan is often used as the format for the main performance.
Q: What are we hoping to pull from the angkringan concept for our Assembly in Yogya?
A: The General Assembly is the moment and place where ACT as a global and local alliance will discuss their progress and achievements, as well as their learnings and challenges. To facilitate an honest conversation, we need a safe space to ask difficult questions and an equal platform to invite everyone to participate and contribute, knowing that everyone‘s contribution is worth listening to.
