Hidayat, the gong-maker, said that he is unsure for how long the workshop will be able to stay afloat.
He also worries that he will not be able to find a successor to take his place, and is worried about the art form’s future.
Not many, he added, are interested in learning the centuries-old craft.
The craft, he said, involves backbreaking labour in suffocating heat – things which are not very enticing for the younger generation.
“I have no more successors, my children are all women, and the young people who live in this neighbourhood now don’t seem interested in making gongs because they consider it heavy and dirty work,” said Hidayat.
Agreeing, the workshop owner Krishna Hidayat, said that he finds it difficult to hire new workers, adding that it was challenging to upkeep the business.
“If Gong Factory were to one day cease to exist, I would be extremely sad because there is no regeneration (of talent) … But I’m making my best effort to keep this up.”