Chinese culture comes to town
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)