Chinese culture comes to town
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The melodious sounds of traditional Chinese musical instruments saturated the auditorium in the School of Humanities at the University of Indonesia (UI) in Depok, West Java on Thursday.
A dozen or so musicians enthralled the audience of hundreds of students with their expertise at playing both traditional Chinese and Javanese songs on guceng, erl hue, di zi and yang cing
As Kuo I Ing Yo Cu, the Chinese Traditional Music Ensemble ended their performance, the students gave a standing ovation as a token of appreciation.
The ensemble, along with a few Chinese-Indonesian artists, was part of a 3-day Pecinan Festival, presenting the ethnic culture through wushu martial arts, Chinese plays, the barongsai dragon dance, mandarin movies, traditional Chinese music performances, face-reading and spiritual consultation with well-known Chinese- Indonesian psychic A.S. Udin.
They had been invited by the Chinese Literature Program of UI to not only perform, but also to provide an understanding of the roots and the philosophy of Chinese culture so that the students could appreciate and preserve it.
O Wie Sian, one of the members of the ensemble, told The Jakarta Post that Jakartans' appreciation of traditional Chinese culture had grown beyond his expectations since Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid became president 1999.
During his presidency -- he was ousted in July 2001 -- Gus Dur ended more than 35 years of suppression of Chinese culture by allowing the celebrations of the Chinese New Year.
"On the last Chinese New Year, we had 40 shows in two consecutive weeks. At the time, we mostly performed in shopping malls that also drew the attention of those who are not of Chinese descent," said Sian, who is also referred to by his "Indonesian" name Leonardo Awi Kastro.
The 50-year-old man also felt heartened by the fact that many Indonesians, especially Jakartans, had begun to learn how to play traditional Chinese music.
"My friends and I have just started a Chinese music course. At first I thought it would be difficult to attract students, but it turned out we had more than 100 youngsters applying for the course. Not all of them are of Chinese descent, we also have Ambonese students," he said.
Sian and his ensemble were not the only ones who were excited about the great appreciation shown by Jakartans toward Chinese culture.
Alvin Indradjaja, a doctor who gave a lecture on traditional Chinese medicine at the festival, said that many people were now turning to traditional Chinese medication since Western medication was more expensive.
"The recent trend is people prefer natural medicine, either traditional Chinese medicine or other herbal medicine. They are tired of Western medication that only minimizes the disease impact on the human body, but does not cure the disease.
"Meanwhile, Chinese medication is meant to heal the patient so that after a period of time, he or she, can live normally without being dependent on any medicine at all," he said.
A project officer of the festival, Frieska Victoria, said that the festival was designed to promote Chinese cultural values among students and young Jakartans.
"We want the students to understand basic values of Chinese culture, so it will not only be recognized by people of Chinese descent but also by other Indonesians," she said. (006)