Last weekend I went to Kampung Warna-Warni Jodipan, one of the most anticipated tourism objects in Malang. No, I wasn’t there for any selfies or fun—though I have to admit that I took some and I had some—but the main reason I was there was to conduct a field observation for Health Communication subject.
Kampung Warna-Warni Jodipan is a relatively small neighborhood located exactly side to side with Brantas river. The area is so narrow that you have to turn off your motorcycle engine and walk with it. No house has any fence, let alone a front porch or a yard. To completely explore Kampung Warna-Warni Jodipan you have to have be as fit and as careful as you can, because you have go up and down through several precipitous brick-stairs. I was so worn-out on the first day, thanks to my nonexistent preparation. Have done situational analysis for my field observation proposal, several medias labeled it as ‘slums’ before it has been perfectly transformed into Rio-De-Janeiro-inspired tourism object. Kampung Warna-Warni Jodipan was the result of collaboration between the brilliant minds of GuysPro from UMM with decofresh, a wall paint brand. The project leader is a friend of mine, Nabila, a cheerful, bright and easygoing young lady whom I met at a public relations competition we joined earlier last year.
The class agreed to conduct a field observation at Kampung Warna-Warni Jodipan because it was a tourism object that is located exactly in a kampung—a residence, a neighborhood. To be exact, the kampung itself is the tourism object. Thus, things are a little bit problematic there. How would you like it if strangers direct poses and take pictures in front of your front door? How would you like it if you can’t take a nap because of those never ending footsteps and giggles? How would you like it if you have to let people walk slowly all around you on an alley that was already narrow enough even for you and your neighbors?
Things were not easy for Kampung Warna-Warni Jodipan’s residents. Some are happy while some are not. Some are proud while some are not. But most of all, some are getting the benefits while some are not. When we talk about health, it is not always about the physical matters. It is about the mental and social matters as well. I’m a communication student and I study about health communication, which is the study of how health information is generated and disseminated and promoted and how that information affect individuals, community groups, institutions and public policy.
A friction is undeniable in a tourism object which is also a residence. Most people think that by paying a ticket worth of 2000 rupiah, they are free to do whatever they want. That by having a ticket worth of 2000 rupiah means Kampung Warna-Warni Jodipan is all theirs to take. People visit and have fun at Kampung Warna-Warni Jodipan for hours and then get home, while on the other side Kampung Warna-Warni Jodipan has been other people’s home for all these years. Tourists walk by the old man sitting on his front door, as if a ticket worth of 2000 rupiah can substitute for their manners. Tourists gather around the only open space on Kampung Warna-Warni Jodipan, taking photos with several beautiful paintings and murals as backgrounds, as if a ticket worth of 2000 rupiah can buy the local kids’ only facility to outdoor activities. Tourists yell at their kids and at their friends—tourists basically yell at each other, as if a ticket worth of 2000 rupiah is there to pay for the local toddlers and local elderly people’s right of tranquility. Tourists trespass the train railway and the edge of the river, as if a ticket worth of 2000 rupiah is a warrant of their safety. The hoarse voice come from a very noisy megaphone endlessly reminding tourists to step back and stop doing so, as if the locals deserve that burden from a ticket worth of 2000 rupiah. Tourists throw away trash and neglect the “do not litter” signs placed here and there, because on their tickets, it is written that their 2000 rupiah will go for the green and clean maintenance at Kampung Warna-Warni Jodipan.
They do indeed have the ticket, but what do they actually pay for? On a tourism object that is located exactly in a kampung, which one is more important; a happy tourist or a healthy resident? We don’t have to pick just one if we can and commit to make both happen.
The class was divided into 6 groups based on our focal targets: toddlers and kids, teenagers, productive aged people, elderly, formal health staffs, and informal health ones. We then conducted a field observation for two days; analyzing the latent problems and doing our best to find the solution and its alternatives by interviewing our focal targets and gathering related information from the chief of hamlet and cadres. We are fully aware that our researches are deeply flawed because it was done in quite a short period of time, thus the input was not as rich as it is supposed to be. But at least we have got several glimpses which we are now currently working on (yes, my field observation report is not done yet). These reports later on will serve as academic suggestions for the stakeholders in their decision making processes. Last but not least, we hope for nothing but for Kampung Warna-Warni Jodipan to be better.
(Oh and here's a quite decent self-potrait of me! Didn't take much of it, of course. I'm a ~researcher~ not a ~tourist~, remember?)
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