Monkey on a Mini Motorcycle

[YouTube Clip]

When Neatorama reader Yoshi Hashimoto (Thanks yoshi!) submitted this YouTube clip, it was like a blast from the past for me. See, I grew up in Indonesia and what the clip shows is a trained monkey in a traditional (and disappearing) kid's show called "Topeng Monyet."

Topeng Monyet means "Monkey Mask". It's a traveling one-man (and one-monkey) circus show. He yells out "topeng monyet" while wandering the streets in a residential area, and you can call him to perform at your house. In a typical show, the monkey is the star: it rides a wooden bicycle, walks around holding an umbrella, wears a mask, and so on.

Topeng monyet monkey riding a wooden bicycle. Photo: Harisichwan [Wikipedia]

As you'll see in the clip, the bicycle has been "upgraded" to a mini motorcycle. The monkey is even smart enough to wait for a break in traffic before zooming about.

As a kid, it was a neat treat to see a topeng monyet show. Whenever my parents called one, the neighborhood kids would gather around to watch. But looking back on it as an adult, I realized that it was a sad deal for the monkey. I don't know how it was trained, though I suspect with a lot of beatings, and when it didn't perform to expectation, the guy would yank the chain hard. (If you watch the clip carefully, you'll see that the monkey is on a very long chain).

This type of show is disappearing in Indonesia. I don't know the reason, maybe it's harder to get a monkey or maybe the city government frowned on the practice. Maybe it's a health scare (monkeys carry rabies and Herpes B, and they've been known to scratch or bite spectators).

Lastly, here's a clip of a more "traditional" topeng monyet show:

[YouTube Clip]