The Beach Seller
Angela Cindy
If you have visited the strip of beach in front of Bali Niksoma in Legian, you have probably come across Angela Cindy, a long time bracelet seller, massage lady, nail technician and someone always up for a chat and a laugh.
Cindy was born in Kedisan, Kintamani in November 1978 and her given name is Wayan Asri Ni. As is common for the ladies on the beach, the nickname Angela Cindy was given to her by some tourists. She has two younger brothers and a stepsister and has 2 children herself – a son, Gede Surya Masaharu who was born in 2002 and a daughter, Kadek Aody Amandari who came along in 2006.
Cindy’s mother sadly passed away when she was 11, however her father and stepmum live in Kintamani where they still work as farmers, mainly growing onions and broccoli.
Cindy grew up in Kedisan and attended the local school up until she was 15, excelling at Bahasa and struggling with English! With a dream of one day becoming a business woman and working for herself, she left school and moved to Denpasar to live with her aunt.
She had realised self employment was the way to go after working for someone else selling t-shirts at a store in Kintamani. Her first entrepreneurial job, at just 12 years of age, was selling postcards to tourists at Kintamani, racing home from school to prepare and spending many school holidays approaching potential customers.
She describes her current job, one she started in 1997, as the best because it gives her the freedom to make her own decisions, meet interesting people and occasionally she can make good money! She has to pay for a licence to work on the beach and buys her merchandise from a wholesaler. Along with 10 other ladies, Cindy occupies about 80 metres of beachfront between Niksoma and Away Kamakila. The job is 7 days a week, usually from around 11am until 7pm unless there is a ceremony to attend or bad weather necessitates an early finish.
Cindy married Made Suada in 2000, first meeting him in their village. They both worked on the beach, with Made making and selling temporary tattoos. They would share parenting duties, taking it in turns to be at the beach working whilst the other would stay at home to look after their 2 kids. Sadly a second tragedy beset her life when Made passed away after a battle with cancer in 2018.
Since then she has balanced her work with helping Gede and Kadek graduate from school. She describes watching them grow into kind and mature adults as her happiest and greatest achievement.
Whilst recreation is not high on her agenda, Cindy enjoys swimming, and in her downtime loves to watch comedies on TV. Cooking is not a favourite pastime, although she is partial to nasi campur, jamu and fresh coconut. Interestingly she has not done much travel within Bali – apart from regular visits to her village in Kintamani, she has only been to Ubud, Nusa Dua and Sanur a few times. She has briefly visited Bedugul, Uluwatu and Pandawa, but is yet to go further afield.
Living by the mantra of being patient and never giving up, Cindy is determined to help her kids become successful and like most of us, wants enough money so as she does not have to work everyday. She may be open to finding another husband one day, however higher on the wish list is to continue enjoying her job on the beach, at least for the next 5 years. No pressure on Gede and Kadek, however she would love some grandchildren after that!