| Monkey
Dancing and Beggar Kings: A look at street performers in Asia
 Author:
The Spamhog
Posted: Jan 5th, 2003
While the Western World
celebrates its holidays of Halloween through Thanksgiving on to
Christmas and New Years, here in Asia counterparts of these holidays
(excepting Thanksgiving) are observed. In Thailand, Laos and Cambodia,
this season coincides with many festivals in the Buddhist tradition.
Loy Klathong starts around the time of Halloween and involves making
a toy boat and lighting a candle on it as you put it on water; it
burns and floats away your bad fortune and clears the way for health,
wealth and a better time. Of course December 5th is the King's birthday
in Thailand, good for about five days of partying and celebrating.
Along with the merry
making, one notices an increase in beggars, and their very distant
cousins, the street performers, who try to capitalize on the festivities.
Buddhists view beggars entirely different than we in the West do
the derelicts that spit on your windshield and offer to clean it,
or those annoying mimes that are probably college kids out slumming.
Remember, there is no welfare or social security here; many beggars
truly have no choice, especially the aged and crippled. In Cambodia
and Laos you'll see lots of one-legged beggars, victims of landmines
that proliferate the countryside.
Beggars are somewhat
organized and elect a "King" (they don't call him that
in Thailand out of respect for His Majesty) who serves as their
spokesman and "booking agent." If you open up a fancy
new restaurant or hotel in Asia, it is wise to negotiate with this
person, paying him off to keep his brethren away from your guests,
or else you will see hoards of the most scabrous, vermin infested
unfortunates showing up to bother your customers. This whole scam
is more of a tradition than a shakedown operation.
Buddhism mandates that
one must 'make merit' (tham boon in Thai) serving food to monks,
praying at the temple for your ancestors, sharing with friends and
showing kindness to strangers, which includes yielding to beggars.
Make enough merit and you influence your Karma and perhaps will
come back in a higher station in the next life. Be found lacking
and you may come back as that beggar you ignore.
The street performers,
however, do add a dash of color. In Thailand, the central theme
of these folk are performing animals. And, lest the animal rights
people get up in arms, the owners treat them as family members and
often go without food to feed them first. A market around Khon Kean
in Northeast Thailand offered the following:
A family showed up with
a whole platoon of monkeys in native Thai dress. Papa-san began
a song on what I call the "bamboo bagpipe"; while the
simians performed their dance, one of the creatures approached the
crowd, "wai -ed" (bowed with folded hands in the Thai
manner) and held up a cup for coins. Later an elephant did a series
of maneuvers, holding a cup in its trunk. Near here is the elephant
center for rehabilitation, the alms going for upkeep of this facility,
which is maintained by a private foundation. One of its residents
was the elephant that stepped on a landmine, which shredded its
foot. This celebrated creature is the poster boy (Bull?) for the
foundation and was featured on several TV "travel" shows.
The Vets were able to fix the beast's foot through the charity of
the Thai people. When you consider that Thailand is a poor country,
the sacrifices "Joe average" makes in these cases represent
true merit indeed.
The Philippines boasts
no shortage of beggars or street performers. You will no doubt encounter
the Badjao if you travel by ferry or cruise line in the Islands.
These boat people or sea gypsies live most of their lives in their
tiny boats, assailing the docking ferries. They consider themselves
entertainers, not beggars. In some areas they are used as pearl
divers, going to fantastic depths, but you will see them display
their diving skills for small coins, often adding a few back flips
off their boats for added showmanship.
An anthropologist could
have a field day studying the blend of Native ritual and Christian
tradition here. All Saints day, November 1st (Halloween isn't that
big here) is often referred to as the Day of the Dead, when families
go to the cemetery for what is literally an all night party to pay
respect to the dearly departed. While this is a bit of a circus
in itself, it signals the start of a special time for the beggars
and street performers cashing in on the holidays. The annual migration
of the Lumads, indigenous peoples from the interior, begins before
All Saints Day, and will be thus until after the first of the year.
These folk are the poorest
of the poor and troop to the City in search of a little income.
Some are outright beggars, but many come selling handicrafts and
other goods for the Holidays. Then there are the street performers,
who go singing and dancing. They would bristle at the word "beggar"
as they are performers, mind you, or "Christmas carolers."
I saw one animated fellow
who was a preacher/faith healer/magician/snake handler. Maybe the
guy got the idea for his act from a certain sect of Bible Belters
in the US who handle snakes and drink poison, but it was a good
act…. performed with a venomous cobra. He said God would not
allow it to bite him as he read from the Bible. Then there are fortune
tellers (usually Muslim) and the street corner preachers, who will
sell you a 'blessing,' which consists of reading from "The
Good Book" and asking for a "donation."
A week before All Saints Day, I was totally unprepared for what
showed up in front of my office. A diminutive old fellow with four
youngsters in tow, probably grandchildren, was going door to door
in the business district offering to give his 'blessing' and chase
away any bad spirits. He was dressed in a manner befitting a wizard/
holy man, barefoot, with a pair of old shorts, a colorful native
sleeveless jacket worn open to reveal a bony chest, skin the color
of burnt mahogany. He wore a heavy necklace and carried a staff
to support him lest its weight tip him over. It looked to me more
of a dangerous weapon than a staff, with all the sharks teeth and
crocodile fangs embedded in it. He wore a headdress that was more
than a bandana and less than a turban, festooned with seashells,
raw pearls and feathers. He introduced himself as Datu something
or other. Datu is a native word for Chief. The kids goggled at me
wide eyed, as they probably hadn't seen many white men before. This
apparition offered to bless the building and chase away any ghosts,
my secretary translated. What the hell, I thought, maybe that's
what is wrong with the Xerox machine…"You're on."
The Datu
began his 'blessing' which consisted of slapping his big splayed
feet on the ground, swaying and gesturing with that staff/war club
of his, crooning in a strange high pitched voice while his young
apprentices kept time with a rhythmic clap. Now anywhere else in
the world, a gnarled old pygmy jumping around on a stoop in the
business district might cause a crowd to gather or maybe even press
coverage, but this is planet Mindanao where the bizarre is sometimes
commonplace. Well-dressed matrons and businessmen passed by without
a second glance.
The (witch)
doctor rendered his prognosis: the place was bad spirit free, but
he traced a mystic sign over my door as a precaution. I gave him
a handful of pesos, a package of cookies for the kids and one of
my complementary panatela cigarillos. Sensing he had a live one,
the Chief asked if I might buy a magic carving. No? Anybody need
a fortune told? For a nominal fee he could cure minor ailments.
Eyeing me slyly, he relayed he had several herbal remedies for impotence;
my secretary blushed during the translation and he gave me a mischievous,
albeit, toothless grin. Sorry, no sale old-timer.
The Datu
was soon on his way to his next exorcism, trailing a cloud of smoke
from the prized cigar… and my Xerox machine hasn't malfunctioned
since.
Author:
The Spamhog
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