A humbug culture

This nation loves parades. Ostentatious exhibitionism filled with highfalutin fanfare.

Everything prepped for a moment of exuberance, but little ensuing substance. The morning after, with the recollection of mock dreams and unpaid bills, the hangover hits.

There was another parade recently. This time to inaugurate the Arts and Culture Festival Year 2005/2006. Indonesia's most important and powerful figures were all there: The President, vice president, Jakarta governor and at least four Cabinet ministers.

It seemed like an important event. It should have been an important event. So why was coverage of the parade so limited? So much so that most Jakartans were oblivious to it.

How wonderful it would have been for our children to witness the parade, which represented the country's best traditional arts.

One is reminded of the annual parades that used to take place in the 1970s and early 1980s, and which became a community event in the capital with residents from all walks of life lining up to witness the festivities.

None of that spontaneous enthusiasm was evident during Sunday's event. Perhaps, because the parade was held in front of Merdeka Palace, security became the utmost concern, hence a smaller crowd would have posed fewer risks.

But what does that say about future events (festivals) when the inauguratory, and arguably, most important, parade attracted so little attention.

The limited public interest in the parade may be symptomatic of the new culture of exclusivity that is encroaching on this nation.

The Arts and Culture Festival Year was a good idea on paper. It could have helped preserve our heritage and educate the younger generation about our rich culture. If well planned and advertised, it could have also been a potent marketing tool to attract tourists.

Most of all, it was a missed opportunity to highlight all that is good about Indonesia.

The traditional arts are a manifestation of the core cultural values that make up this pluralistic nation. It is not a simple case of movement and music. They are a representation of what Indonesians value most -- philosophically and ethically.

The word "culture" is derived from the Latin cultura meaning cultivation of the soil. Presently it refers to a way of life -- both material and spiritual -- of a particular society.

In other words, getting to know what matters and most concerns the people. Values that celebrate mutual respect, tolerance and homage to a mightier being.

To simplify our arts and culture to a drum rhythm or the composition of a dance is to belittle their significance.

A true understanding of our culture (and its arts) would reveal a deeper comprehension of our nation as a plurally tolerant community, unswayed by politically defined racial or religious divisions.

Take for example the Dero dance in Central Sulawesi, which is usually performed by a community together during the harvest celebrations known as Padungku. It exemplifies the cohesion of a society bound by common values.

Today the Dero can be easily learned by our young, but in places like Poso where the dance originated, no longer are there harvest celebrations. The kinship of communities there has been torn apart by communal conflict.

It is pompous to perform that dance here in Jakarta, for example, if the indigenous communities it hailed from are more eager to perform a dance of death.

English poet Matthew Arnold said "men of culture are the true apostles of equality".

That is the essence that we must aspire to when preserving and promoting our culture.

By doing so, we acquaint ourselves with the best of the nation's spirit. A foundation for evolving a peaceful and pluralistic Indonesia of tomorrow.

To paraphrase Charles Darwin: The highest possible stage in moral culture is when we are aware enough to manage our thoughts.