Chinese
week raises hope for Chinese Indonesians
In observance of this year's Chinese New Year, Gadjah Mada
University's
Center for Traditional Food Studies, in cooperation with
the Yogyakarta
municipal government, held a five-day Chinese Cultural Week
here, the first
event of its kind here.
The Jakarta Post's Sri Wahyuni and Slamet
Susanto observed the event that
many hope will further confirm Yogyakarta's reputation as
the City of
Tolerance.
Suwito never believed that Chinese art and
traditions like dances, rituals
and even food would be presented openly in this country,
regarding the fact
that it had earlier been banned for years.
"It's like a dream for me seeing all
this," said Suwito, a 58-year-old
ethnic Chinese as he visited a five-day Chinese Cultural
Week held recently
here on Jl. Ketandan, a narrow street in the compound of
Yogyakarta's
biggest traditional market, Beringharjo.
Suwito, who is himself a former Chinese lion
dancer, knew very well how he
had to perform the dance in secret back then. He was even
afraid of being
caught wearing the costume for the dance.
Observing the event, however, Suwito was very
hopeful. It gave him a kind of
confirmation that people of his community would truly be
part of the whole
community of Yogyakarta, where he was born and grew up.
"I do hope there
will be no more discriminative treatment to us as we were
all born here. We
belong to one nation," Suwito said.
Various programs were held during the event.
These included an exhibition of
ancient items representing Chinese culture, an exhibition
of Chinese
traditional women's shirts, Mandarin song karaoke performances,
fashion
show, Chinese puppet performances and, of course, a performance
of the
renowned dragon dance and lion dance.
An old house with a mixture of Javanese and
Chinese architectural designs
built in 1800 by Tan Siem Kian was also opened to the public
during the
Chinese cultural week. The house still bears its original
look, including
the three specific doors in the rear. Such doors were very
important in the
past in the house of a Chinese family. They functioned as
escape routes for
members of the family when they were in danger.
It was also in the house that an exhibition
of old items representing
Chinese culture was held. Among the exhibited items were
an over
100-year-old sedan chair used to carry a Chinese princess,
a marble table of
the Ming dynasty from the 13th century and a marble table
and ceramics of
the Ching dynasty from 1700.
For the event, Jl. Ketandan, which used to
be a Chinese neighborhood in the
early years of Yogyakarta was decorated with accessories
dominated by red
and gold colors, the specific colors of the Chinese.
Temporary stalls made of bamboo were also
erected along the street, where
vendors sold various traditional foods and snacks of both
Javanese and
Chinese origin.
Visitors, especially Muslims, did not have
to worry about the food, as the
organizing committee required that only halal (permitted
according to
Islamic law) food could be sold at the food festival.
Vice chairman of the cultural week's organizing
committee Isman Indarto said
the event would be held annually in a bid to preserve the
living Chinese
arts and traditions, as well as to create more tourist attractions
for the
city.
No less than Yogyakarta Mayor Hery Zudianto
expressed support for the event.
"I would never officially close this event if there
had not been an
agreement among all of us to make this an annual program
here," he said,
jokingly, while officially closing the cultural week.
Others also expressed the same strong support.
Laretna T. Adishakti, a
heritage activist and lecturer at Gadjah Mada University's
School of
Engineering, for example, said the event would help preserve
what is called
the intangible heritage of the city.
"I do agree the event deserves strong
support from the whole community,"
said Laretna, adding that Jl. Ketandan was the right site
to hold the event
as it used to be the place where most of the Chinese community
lived and
made a living in the past.
"I even see it has the potential to be
further developed into a Chinatown,"
she said.
Bernie Liem, a noted ethnic Chinese figure
here, shared Laretna's idea. She
even imagined that the event, especially the food bazaar,
could be further
developed into a weekly program, just like Warung Semawis
in Semarang's
Chinatown that opens every weekend. Tjundoko, another ethnic
Chinese figure,
however, criticized the event as not optimally involving
Yogyakarta's
Chinese community.
Yet, he was also aware that many people in
the community were afraid to take
on public roles because of the discrimination they experienced
in the past.
"But I'm quite confident it will be much better organized
next year with
sufficient time for preparations," said Tjundoko, who
is also head of the
Ketandan Neighborhood Association.
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