Bazaar ICAA
Josea Nakarnadi
/Indonesia Media
Indonesian Chinese American Association, known as ICAA held their biggest event of the year: Chinese New Year Celebration. The purpose of this event is to unite the Indonesian Chinese and American communities in Los Angeles county, as well as preserving the heritage of Chinese culture.
 This is the 7th celebration and every year it attracts a number of attendants from all ages and around the area. The Indonesian community in Los Angeles are looking forward to come to satisfy their crave for Indonesian food while getting entertained. Yet, this event has been a place where ‘families and friends’ gather. Every year ICAA challenges their staff to better off their program: to bridge the gap between the elder and younger generations.
Before the sun rise, at Wilson High School, Hacienda Heights was hectic. The ICAA staff was busy  preparing facility for the Chinese New Year Celebration. There were forty-one booths and stage to be set up.
This year, the stage decoration was lead by Sanny Tirtohadi. The decoration looked outstanding dominated by red and gold as the traditional Chinese color accented with Chinese lanterns and firecrackers that has been passed down over the generation. Their simplicity have drawn various good comments and it looked great from every angle.
 
During this event ICAA decided to collaborate a duet Master of Ceremony between Shinta and Roland Wiryawan. The teamwork has been successful in stirring up the crowds of all ages. Many audiences participated in games, singing and dancing. On the other hand a band called “Not Young Anymore”, known as “NYA” played a big role in complementing the sound system and play songs requested by the audience.
 
Special thanks were given to the persons and parties who have had done a good job in this event, among others Mr. Norman Hsu President of School Board of LaPuente and Hacienda School District who gave permission to use the Wilson High School’s facility, Mr. Johnny Setiawan who is in charged on health matters, Mrs. Chelsea who is in charged for booths registration, Mr. Harry Chow who is in charged on logistic and transportation, Mr. Leo Susanto as the field officer, Mr. Hendy and his volunteer fellows who are in charged as parking attendants, Bryant Irawan who lead the Lion Dance show, and all the student volunteers from Wilson High School, Dr. Irawan, with his Indonesia Media the publication which promoted this event.
 
DR. Fritz Hong, President of ICAA, formally opened the celebration with short speech. He thanked the ICAA staff for their hard work and commitment to make this celebration a success. The Honorable Mr.Subijaksono generally known as “Pak Sony”, Indonesian Consul General in Los Angeles in his speech emphasized the concept of Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity) that will inspire the Indonesian-Chinese and American communities here in America . Conclusion speech was given by Norman Hsu, the School Board of Hacienda Heights. He welcomed everyone to this event in three different languages.
Stacey Irawan amazed audiences with her Chinese traditional dance performance. Followed by Chinese Lion Dance, known as Barongsai, a symbol of prosperity and wealth. The Lion Dance Club was founded by ICAA to encourage the young generations to participate in preserving their original culture.
The Barongsai was performed by both generations to bridge the gap between two different age generations. A Chinese choir also participated in several Chinese songs to bridge relationship between Indonesian and Chinese community in Los Angeles.
The celebration was ended by ICAA staff singing the ‘Indonesia Tanah Air Beta’, which represented a unity and pride as Indonesians regardless of ethnic background and religion. Referring back to the concept of ‘Bhinneka Tunggal Ika’ - Unity in Diversity as stated by Mr. Sony, the Consul General in his previous speech.
According to this event committee, they have noticed a great improvement in the quality of food served now. Also the number of booth had increased compared with last years. Indonesian community felt more warmth with the presence of the Indonesian Consul General and all his staff who have spent their time a bit longer than usual with the crowd. However on the negative side, there were still not enough parking space available.
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