Betawi people ponder their past and future<\/p>\n
Tantri Yuliandini, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Whenever Jakarta has an anniversary, the focus invariably reverts
\nto the city's original residents, the Betawi people.<\/p>\n
Not only is there a sudden burst of interest in Betawi culture
\nat department stores, banks and television stations, but seminars
\nalso crop up on the subject.<\/p>\n
Yet despite countless seminars, questions on the identity of
\nthe Betawi people still remain. What is Betawi culture and who
\nare the Betawi people?<\/p>\n
The generally accepted theory is that the Betawi were a group
\nof people forged out of the "melting pot" that was Batavia, the
\nformer name of Jakarta under Dutch colonial rule.<\/p>\n
Intermarriage between the people brought to Batavia by the
\nDutch East Indies Company (VOC) in the 17th century -- especially
\nfrom eastern Indonesia -- as conscripts to help with trade
\nexpansion and expeditions led to a new cultural group called the
\nBetawi, historian R.Z. Leirissa said.<\/p>\n
Leirissa was speaking at a seminar titled, Betawi and Jakarta:
\nA Cultural Perspective, organized on June 28 by the University of
\nIndonesia's Research Center for the Humanities and Social
\nSciences and the Jakarta administration's Culture and Museum
\nAgency.<\/p>\n
In addition, intermarriages between people of other cultures
\nliving in Batavia at the time -- such as the Chinese, Arabs,
\nMalays, the Portuguese and Dutch -- enriched the culture of the
\nnew group that would become the Betawi.<\/p>\n
Betawi arts such as gambang kromong (traditional orchestra)
\nand lenong theater have distinct Chinese influences, while the
\nsamrah orchestra is distinctly Malay and tanjidor music groups
\nuse European-style musical instruments.<\/p>\n
The Portuguese left their mark on keroncong music, and the
\nMiddle Eastern influence is felt in gambus orchestras. A
\nSundanese influence is seen in the gamelan ajeng and gamelan
\ntopeng dances.<\/p>\n
During this time, the VOC left social organization up to the
\npeople themselves, including the Betawi. Consequently, they
\nbecame a fiercely independent people with no notions of class
\ndistinction, Leirissa said.<\/p>\n
"The Betawi people were born from a transformation process
\nthat was consciously and actively undertaken by indigenous people
\nliving in the city at the time of the VOC," the historian said.<\/p>\n
One distinct trait of the Betawi, he explained, was their
\ndislike of the establishment. They were sidelined because they
\nshied away from the imperialistic policies of the Dutch East
\nIndies Company.<\/p>\n
"The Betawi didn't want to enter the Dutch school system and
\npreferred an Islamic-based education, for example, which was one
\nof the reasons why their participation was very limited during
\nthe next order (of government)," Leirissa said.<\/p>\n
The stereotype of the Betawi as a backward people probably
\noriginated from their refusal to integrate into mainstream life,
\nhe said. This fact was highlighted on the popular TV show Si Doel
\nAnak Sekolahan, where Rano Karno playing Doel became the first
\nmember of his village to graduate from university.<\/p>\n
On the Betawi side, they see it as unfortunate that the image
\nof them as "country bumpkins" has become fresh meat for the
\nhungry entertainment industry.<\/p>\n
Chairman of the Betawi Intellectual Network, Ali Shahab,
\nberated TV dramas such as MandraGade, Jodoh Apa Jodoh (Is It
\nKismet or Not), Kecil-kecil Jadi Manten (Young Bride) and Norak
\nTapi Beken (Tacky but Famous) for spreading the stereotype of the
\nBetawi as simple, ignorant and lazy.<\/p>\n
He said at the seminar that the Betawi had not only been
\nevicted from their land, but were also insulted on television.<\/p>\n
Despite the stereotype, however, many Betawi people have risen
\nto prominence in their chosen fields, such as Jakarta's deputy
\ngovernor Fauzi Bowo, Jakarta Representative Council member Biem
\nBenyamin, former Bank Central Asia president Abdullah Ali and
\nformer University of Indonesia rector M.K. Tadjudin.<\/p>\n
Another misconception about the Betawi is that their numbers
\nare diminishing.<\/p>\n
An anthropologist from the University of Indonesia, Yasmine
\nZaki Shahab, said that according to demographic data, the Betawi
\nwere the eighth largest ethnic group in Indonesia, with about
\nfive million people.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, far from being immobile, as is the common
\nperception, she said the Betawi could be found in almost all
\nprovinces in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
"The Betawi people in Central Java and East Java are mainly
\nthose who attended pesantren (Islamic boarding schools) there and
\nlater stayed on," Yasmine said at the seminar.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, the Betawi are the second largest ethnic group
\nafter the Javanese, with 2.3 million people or 27.7 percent of
\nthe city's population.<\/p>\n
Yasmine said that according to the 2000 census, Cilincing
\ndistrict in North Jakarta had the largest Betawi population in
\nthe capital, followed by Jagakarsa in South Jakarta, Kemayoran
\nand Tanah Abang in Central Jakarta, Kalideres and Cengkareng in
\nWest Jakarta, and Cakung in East Jakarta.<\/p>\n
"So it is not true that the Betawi people are being buried
\nunder (other ethnic groups) in Jakarta," she said.<\/p>\n
Yasmine said the subdistrict with the highest concentration of
\nBetawi residents was Kapuk in Cengkareng district, West Jakarta.
\nHowever, she also posed a question about whether or not Kapuk
\ncould be called Kampung Betawi.<\/p>\n
Along with the rapid changes in Batavia and later Jakarta, the
\nface of the Betawi people has also changed over the years.
\nYasmine said that in the 1950s, intermarriage between the Betawi
\nand people from other groups was common.<\/p>\n
Now urbanization has prompted many people from other parts of
\nIndonesia to move to Jakarta and call the city home. Can these
\npeople also be called Betawi?<\/p>\n
What about the children and grandchildren of migrants to
\nJakarta who are born in the city? Are they Betawi?<\/p>\n
"I have lived in this city for over 49 years, am I considered
\nBetawi?" a attendee at the seminar asked.<\/p>\n
Many non-Betawi artists and entertainers have started calling
\nthemselves Betawi, such as Ambonese-Javanese comedian Debby
\nSahertian and Manado fashion designer-cum-actor Robby Tumewu.<\/p>\n
The secretary-general of the Betawi Native Jakartans
\nAssociation, Bahrullah Akbar, provides a loose definition of the
\nmodern Betawi as those who do not take part in the exodus back to
\ntheir hometowns during the Idul Fitri holiday.<\/p>\n
"Those who take part in the mudik (exodus) still have homes
\noutside Jakarta, so they are not Betawi," he said to the laughter
\nof seminar attendees. He also said that in recruiting members,
\nhis association was very liberal in how it defined who was
\nBetawi.<\/p>\n
Yasmine said those people who should be considered Betawi were
\nthose who shared the group's historical traits and who also
\nthought of themselves as Betawi.<\/p>\n
"It is difficult to make a final definition about the Betawi,
\nso it is better to leave it loose, so it can develop according to
\nthe times and the Betawi community's own participation (in the
\nlarger community)," she said.<\/p>",
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