Chinese New Year celebrations end

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Thousands of Chinese people in downtown Jakarta reveled on Sunday in a solemn procession in which Toapekong, or effigies of gods, were carried from one temple to another, ahead of the last day of the Chinese New Year celebrations, which falls on Tuesday. However, despite the strong enthusiasm, many still worry that it will not last long.

In Sunday's procession, many people, including elderly women and children, rushed to shoulder the effigies of Cheng Guan Cheng Kun (a heavenly god) and Tian Kao (two black dogs that are believed to usher the former).

"I believe that by shouldering the toapekong, people will obtain blessings and benefits from the gods," said Giok Nio, 60, one of the revelers.

The effigies were taken from the 500-year-old Wihara Dharma Djaja Toasebeo, known as one of the oldest Chinese temple here, to the larger temple, Wihara Dharma Bakti, a few hundred meters away from the former.

The parade was accompanied by the deafening sound of drums, chimes and cymbals. It also featured a barongsay (lion dance) and liong (dragon dance).

The parade attracted many passersby, causing heavy traffic congestion along the narrow Jl. Kemenangan in Kota, Central Jakarta, for more than two hours. Many onlookers joined the procession, which was a sea of red.

The most eye-catching performance was when some semi-naked men, entranced, started scratching their backs with sharp swords, accompanied by Chinese songs from their entourage.

"This year's celebration is much merrier than last year's, as thousands of enthusiasts could be seen packed into our Chinese temples," said Husen Sjarifudin, chief of the Wihara Dharma Djaja Toasebeo.

Husen, who like many Chinese here has adopted an Indonesian name, expected the festival would be merrier next year, recalling President Megawati Soekarnoputri's recent decision to declare the Lunar New Year a national holiday, beginning in 2003.

However, Husen revealed that Chinese people needed more freedom and equality, rather than merely the freedom to express their culture, amid concern that their freedom as Indonesian citizens would remain constrained.

"Besides the freedom to participate in cultural activities, as happened today, we also expect to be treated the same as pribumi (indigenous) Indonesians in our everyday life," said Husen.

Similarly, director of the Center for Chinese Studies (PSC) Ignatius Wobowo also revealed that the decision to declare Chinese New Year a national holiday was only a political gesture to secure the support of Chinese-Indonesians for the upcoming elections in 2004.

"The government's urgent concern must be directed toward the abolition of all regulations and policies that are discriminatory toward Chinese-Indonesians," Wibowo said.

There are currently 50 laws and ordinances deemed discriminatory on the grounds of ethnicity, including the requirement for Chinese-Indonesians to produce a certificate of citizenship (SKBRI) every time they apply for official documents such as identification cards or passports. These regulations were all issued during the New Order, under former authoritarian president Soeharto.

Soeharto banned the public display of Chinese culture and denied citizenship to many Chinese migrants after he accused Beijing of involvement in an attempted coup blamed on the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) in 1965.

Although the ethnic Chinese community comprises less than three percent of Indonesia's total 215 million population, it dominates the country's economy. Such a situation has been the source of envy among Indonesians, particularly the less affluent and -- as history has shown -- it has sometimes been the source of social conflict.