Chinese New Year fever builds in Pontianak

Chinese New Year fever builds in Pontianak

Edi Petebang, Contributor, Pontianak, West Kalimantan

Red lanterns hang beautifully in almost every shop, restaurant,
house, mall, Chinese temple and Buddhist temple. Chinese songs
about the Lunar New Year emanate from Chinese-owned shops,
restaurants and houses, lending a more festive air.

The city of Pontianak is busy preparing for the celebration of
the most important traditional Chinese feast day, which falls on
Jan. 22 this year,

Delicacies and drinks, Chinese New Year cards, red envelopes,
Sakura flowers, garlands, lanterns and other paraphernalia
usually needed for the celebration are easily available in the
shopping centers on Jl. Sudirman, Jl. Gajah Mada and Jl.
Tanjungpura as well as in the traditional market Pasar Siantan.

Vendors say this year they expect business to be good."We have
more buyers this year than last year," said Ameng, a shop
assistant.

Generally, Chinese-Indonesians will buy lanterns, Ameng said,
adding that lanterns are believed to be able to drive away evil
spirits and bring good fortune.

Shopping centers are abuzz with busy activities to welcome the
Lunar New Year. Malls and supermarkets give discounts ranging
from Rp 5,000 to Rp 100,000 in red packets. Various kinds of
clothing for the celebration, usually in red, are easily
available as they are sold only for this particular celebration.

Goods for the celebration are also available at sidewalks.

Local Chinese residents are also busy preparing their houses
for the Lunar New Year celebration. Houses are cleaned and
repainted. Mei flowers, lanterns and various red ornaments
bearing Chinese characters deck the sitting rooms. Parents put
some money into the red envelopes for their children. They hope
that these red packets will bring good fortune to their children.

The Chinese also believe that when the New Year comes they
must no longer have debts or sins. That's why they usually pay
off their debts prior to the New Year. Sixty-year-old Akhong from
a Chinese vihara (prayer house) in Siantan said that if you are
still in debt when the New Year comes, you will be unlucky. "When
you have cleared your debts when the New Year comes, you will
have good fortune," he noted.

This year will be the Year of the Monkey.

Although Chinese-Indonesians now enjoy greater freedom to
celebrate Chinese New Year, the Chinese Confucianists in West
Kalimantan are still subject to discrimination.

Sutadi, chairman of the Indonesian Confucianist Council
(Matakin) West Kalimantan chapter, said that students cannot have
Confucianist religious lessons at school and have to join the
class of another religion. Then, if a Confucianist couple get
married according to the Confucianist tradition at the civil
registry, they will be registered as having been married
according to the Buddhist tradition.

"As there are quite a lot of Confucianists in West Kalimantan
such as in Pontianak and Singkawang, it is now time that schools
provide a special teacher for Confucianism. It is also time for
the government to recognize a Confucianist marriage," he said.

Meanwhile in Singkawang, some 250 kilometers north of
Pontianak, preparations for the New Year celebration are more
festive than other places in West Kalimantan.

Singkawang city is predominantly populated by the ethnic
Chinese, who make up about 43 percent of the total population of
151,622 people. Malays account for 30 percent of the population
while the Dayak people make up 9 percent of Singkawang's
population. In terms of its ethnic Chinese population, Pontianak
is the second largest after Singkawang with 109,725 ethnic
Chinese residents, or 24 percent of its total population of
464,534 people.

In Singkawang the preparation for the celebration of the Lunar
New Year is obvious in Chinese temples and Buddhist temples as
well as in shops and residents' houses. Items for the Lunar New
Year celebration abound in the local bookstores.

Take one bookshop on Jl. Diponegoro, for example. Almost
everywhere in this shop you can see New Year paraphernalia with
prices ranging from Rp 1,000 to Rp 1 million.

"We've prepared all these things since early this year. We
sell practically every item needed for the Lunar New Year
celebration, including figurines of dragons and the drunken god,
lion dance equipment and so forth," said Bong Kwa, the shop
attendant.

These items are displayed both inside and outside the shop to
create a more festive air. Red lanterns, the lion heads for the
lion dance and other red-colored accessories are found hanging
outside the shop. Red lanterns are also hung in front of
practically every Chinese house. "We light lanterns so that we
may have a bright life in the new year," said Akhiong, another
Chinese local.

Religious places are also busy with activities to welcome the
Lunar New Year. Chinese and Buddhist temples are repainted.
Lanterns are hung in front of them. Inside, special joss sticks
-- very large in size -- are prepared. In the afternoon, lion and
dragon dance groups are busy rehearsing seriously amid a crowd of
onlookers that come from various ethnic groups.

Banners expressing Happy Lunar New Year both in Chinese and
Bahasa Indonesia are found on several corners of the town.
Welcome, the Year of the Monkey, welcome.