Traders of Kuta Beach
Tourism surely attracts people to work in that field. They vie for many kinds of jobs from a luxurious provider services to the modest class services. But the last are often despised by others.
As what happen in Kuta beach where temporary tattoo makers, nail-painter, drink sellers, and others earn money. They are often jeered that they turn a beautiful beach into hideous place. Even more, they annoy the tourist since most of them offer their goods or service with a die-hard persistence. But actually they try to make tourists comfort in their own way. How?
When strangers stay in a new area the situation will be filled of the jealousy. The traders in this beach are from various districts; most of them are people of Kuta village which are called local traders and traders from other regions in Bali even more Javanese which belong to the non-local trader group. Sari, one of nail-painters coming from Abianbase village said that there is a different regulation between the local and the non-local traders in monthly membership fee. She and other non-local traders must pay Rp 50.000 and the local only Rp 15.000. And she never know why, but she’ll pay it as long as she can work there.
But the chief of The Supervision Unit for Kuta Beach, Mr Penyu said that the different regulation especially for the membership fee is a must since the local traders have a responsibility for custom duties at a place where they work, but the non-local traders have no responsibilities for that. He also said to reduce the unfair competition between the local and non-local he had to divide them into several group which a group consist of local and non-local which is placed in an area only.
However Sari’s group consists of the non-local only. She admitted that her friend had a quarreled with the local one for a customer; nevertheless none of them get that customer because that customer felt disturbed. She and her friends and all the traders then realized that a bad relationship among the traders will make them lose the customer. So they decided to keep the customer’s comfort by holding their self not to fight over the customer. Keeping the customer’s comfort is keeping their life.
They can not be blamed for their presence since they only make a living and yet they have self-awareness to keep the tourists’ comfort.