A distinctively new year
The measure of a nation's greatness lies in its ability to reconcile its diversity.
There continue to be many things wrong with this country. Every day, this and other newspapers report an endless stream of injustices that occur across the archipelago. Still, amid all that is wrong it is heartening to find some things so gloriously right.
The continued outpouring of benevolence for victims of the tsunami in northern Sumatra is one such thing. It marks a triumph not only for Indonesians, but humanity as a whole. Without prejudice to religion or race, people donated and contributed whatever they could to comfort those in need.
The upcoming two-day national holiday is another measure of how far this country has come. The commemoration of the Chinese New Year and the Islamic New Year, which fall on consecutive days, shows that plurality can work without the imposition of stringent controls, as was the case during the New Order era.
Less than a decade ago such adjoining public events would have been unthinkable. Chinese cultural traditions were considered taboo. Under a misguided political pretext -- related to the anti-communist hysteria -- anything that was even vaguely connected to Chinese culture was frowned upon.
Few even stopped to ask what Chinese culture, one of the oldest and most revered in human history, had to do with modern Communism?
Generations of Indonesians of Chinese descent were forced to suppress their heritage and forsake their identity. The politically correct phrase of the day was "assimilation", but in practice it was closer to discrimination.
President Abdurrahman Wahid was the first to ease the cultural restrictions in 2000 by allowing ethnic Chinese to resume and celebrate their cultural identity. President Megawati Soekarnoputri went a step further in providing the ultimate acknowledgement of Chinese culture by declaring the Lunar New Year a national holiday.
The stereotypes have not been completely jettisoned from ignorant minds, but formal acceptance of Chinese culture is a tremendous leap forward. Even non-ethnic Chinese can now enjoy the richness of the occasion.
In similar fashion, the Islamic New Year generates distinct rites and ceremonies that may not be strictly religious in nature.
Satu Suro festivities, for example, always draw a large crowd at the sultan's palace in Yogyakarta, where a hodgepodge of animism and Islamic rituals are intertwined with each other.
Each religion or faith is distinct. One cannot interchange between them. But distinctiveness does not have to lead to differences. Our sense of identity, as Indonesians, draws upon this richness of cultures and faiths, whether or not a person feels tangible links to them.
The ethnic Chinese can appreciate and respect the Islamic New Year just as much as Muslims can enjoy the colorful festivities of Imlek.
Because whether it is the Year of the Rooster or 1426 Hijriah on the Islamic calender, everyone is commemorating and praying for a safe and prosperous 2005.