Puteri’s Companions – Armina

Armina is Moni’s distant cousin who lives in Surabaya, East Java. An unfortunate event caused Armina to be part of the topeng monyet, the dancing macaque troupe which belongs to Adhi Usadha, a human animal tamer, or an animal master. Literally meaning ‘monkey with a mask’, topeng monyet is quite a traditional street performance genre where an animal tamer-cum-musical performer travels around the city along with a macaque. The animal tamer is usually male. He brings with him a tambour, and a small gong or saron (a percussion instrument made of seven bronze bars attached to a resonating frame). These are the main instruments used in gamelan’s Javanese traditional ensemble music. From one place to another, this troupe made of a musical performer and a macaque performs in front of a human audience. The dancing macaque is trained to imitate human’s behaviour and practices. The animal tamer asks the macaque to perform various activities: from walking, dancing, carrying a tiny umbrella or a handbag, to going to the market, school, riding a mini bicycle and putting make up on. The macaque has to do all these activities while being shackled to prevent it from running away.
Adhi Usadha called Armina ‘Mawar.’ Adhi did not know Armina’s real name and he did not speak animal language either. Armina always laughed secretly on how humans like Adhi called animals with random names. Though sometimes Armina would not mind being addressed as ‘Mawar,’ because mawar means rose flower in Indonesian. She likes flowers and it is a good thing to be referred to as one. To live as a topeng monyet means to live a miserable life as an animal slave – long hours of working without proper rest, food, and feeling humiliated from being a source of entertainment and laughingstock for humans. (1) Armina’s goal is to escape from Adhi. When Adhi train(s) her to drive a mini motorcycle, Armina begins to plot a scheme to flee.