Kampung Warna is one of the new interesting tourist destinations to visit when visiting the city of Malang, East Java. If it’s Saturday–Sunday or holidays, this place is crowded with local tourists or young people who want to take pictures or selfies in Kampung Warna. According to information, visitors who come on weekends and holidays can reach 300 visitors.
Before entering Kampung Warna, we can take pictures first on the bridge with the background of the village. There are several entrances to this village. Inside the village, there are many beautiful spots for photos. When I visited the village, a lot of young people were coming and taking pictures. If you want to take pictures in one spot, you have to wait patiently to take turns with the others.
Luckily at that time I came accompanied by a friend who happened to be his brother who lived in Kampung Warna and was one of the elders in the village. We also visited him before traveling around the village.
Women’s Mark in Kampung Warna
Mrs. Sri. She usually calls with that name. She has lived in Kampung Warna since 1961. When the village was first about to be painted, in June 2016, all villagers consisting of 3 RTs were invited to a meeting. According to Mrs. Sri, Kampung Warna or known as the village of Juanda was once very dirty and slum. People often throw garbage in the river and are dirty, so that at times it becomes dirty and sometimes when it rains heavily, the water overflows into people’s homes.
Kampung Warna is not only designed with colored houses, but also gave new colors of life to 105 heads of families.
Economically, this village tourist attraction provides income for its citizens. Income from parking and entrance tickets used to manage waste, village cleanliness, and salaries of parking ticket officers and ticket booths. Those on duty take turns so that everyone gets a share of the results.
For the treatment of repainting the village, the residents get a discount on the price of paint by bringing letters from the local RT and RW. They said to paint the village in this color it takes approximately 2 tons of paint.
What about the women in Kampung Warna? What is the impact of the situation of making a tourist attraction for their village? The women I asked said they were happy that their village is clean. Some people can also sell food and drinks for visitors to the village of color, so they can get income for themselves. Another impact is that the village becomes too crowded so that their resting hours are disrupted. In addition, they also have to keep their homes safe from thieves who disguise themselves as visitors.
Perhaps what needs to be developed is to provide entrepreneurship training for the villagers there, so that they can create sustainable entrepreneurs. For example, they are trained to make colorful village souvenirs, sell them, and set up a small enterprises for them so that they can improve the local economy. Train residents to manage and develop tourism objects professionally and independently. And finally, Kampung Warna can color the lives and economy of the residents.
(This article was published in Indonesian on konde.co in 2019)
(Atmosphere of Kampung Warna in Malang, East Java/ Photo: Poedjiati Tan)
