Chinese New Year is a family affair

Chinese New Year is a family affair

In conjunction with Chinese New Year's Day, The Jakarta Post
is running a series of articles on tomorrow's celebrations in
Jakarta. Related stories and Chinese horoscopes follow on Page 6.

JAKARTA (JP): Tomorrow is Chinese New Year's Day. The date is
fixed in accordance with the Chinese lunar calendar. According to
the World Book of Encyclopedia, this calendar began in 2637 BC,
the year in which the legendary Emperor Huangdi supposedly
invented it.

Many Indonesians of Chinese descent celebrate the New Year by
praying in Buddhist temples on New Year's Eve. This is
understandable because most Indonesian Buddhists are of Chinese
descent. Those of other faiths celebrate Imlek, the local term
for the Chinese New Year, at home with their families.

All family members gather for a big dinner, and visit
relatives and friends to wish them luck with the traditional
greeting of kung-hsi fa-ts'ai, which means "happy greetings and
may you prosper". People also traditionally give angpao (red
envelopes containing bank notes) to children.

But you won't see any joyful parades along the street. You
won't see the dynamic dragon dances. You won't hear the beating
of the drums or the ringing of cymbals, both of which are typical
in China and in the Chinatowns of other countries.

Indonesian Chinese used to have big New Year celebrations. But
things have changed a lot.

"I remember when I was a kid, in mid 1960s, I saw a splendid
dragon dance on the street. And then they entered the spacious
yard of my auntie's house to dance there. My auntie was rich. The
house was big and beautifully decorated with Chinese lanterns,"
recalled an Indonesian Chinese woman.

There are no more dragon dances along the streets. There are
no more beautiful Chinese lanterns hung on the porches of houses.
Gone are the exuberant festivities.

The Indonesian Communist Party can be blamed for the
"extinction" of the fiesta.

Indonesia's political ties with China deteriorated after the
1965 abortive coup of the communist party, which was believed to
be backed by China. Political relations between the two countries
were severed in 1967. In the same year, the government banned
public celebrations of Chinese cultural events, including the
Chinese New Year. Chinese schools were shut down, Chinese books
were banned and the use of Chinese characters in public was even
made taboo.

The policy was implemented to remind Indonesians of Chinese
descent that they did not belong to China. The policy was aimed
at building their nationalism as Indonesians and to accelerate
their assimilation with the indigenous people.

The political ties between Indonesia and China were restored
in 1992, but the restrictions on the practice of Chinese culture
remains.

Even though the government has not revoked the ban on Chinese
festivals and Chinese books, indigenous Indonesians seem to have
more tolerance towards the Chinese culture. You can see Chinese
films on private TV stations every day, things you didn't see a
few years ago.

Sinologist A. Dahana believes that the government chose not to
withdraw the restrictions to prevent conflicts between the
indigenous people and those of Chinese origin.

"The issue of Chinese descent in Indonesia is very sensitive.
Indonesian Chinese always become the target of public
frustration, for example in the problem of the wide gap between
the rich and the poor," he told The Jakarta Post.

Indonesians of Chinese origin today constitute about 3% of
Indonesia's 190 million population, but they dominate the
country's economy. Indonesian Chinese have been accused of
colluding with government officials to make big profits at the
expense of indigenous people. The idea that all Indonesian
Chinese are rich has also caused endless tension among many
people, according to Dahana.

"That's (the notion) not true. You don't have to go to West
Kalimantan or Bangka to find poor Chinese people. You can find
them living in slum areas in Teluk Gong, North Jakarta, or in
Tangerang," he said.

But people don't see those poor Chinese. What they see are
Soedono Salim, alias Liem Sioe Liong, Ciputra, Mohammad (Bob)
Hasan, Eka Tjipta Widjaja and other tycoons who have Chinese
blood. In fact, most of the top taxpayers are Indonesian Chinese.

As the lavish Chinese New Year festival is banned, the tycoons
obviously do not hold any exuberant celebrations. But some of
them have reportedly donated giant red candles worth millions of
rupiah to Buddhist temples. The candles are burned during New
Year's Eve prayers.

"I doubt if the report is true. The most expensive candle I
know costs Rp 500,000 (US$216.73)," said a temple worker.

She said people donate the candles in the hope of having a
brighter business in the coming year.

"Why are the candles red? Red is the symbol of happiness. You
have white candles when somebody dies," she explained.

Various fruits and cakes are usually put on the altar as
offerings during New Year's Day prayers.

Astrologist Asminursoffian said the number of one's offerings
must be odd in number, but he could not explain why. He said
people believed that the more offerings they made, the more
wealth they would get.

He also said that on New Year's Eve all gods and goddesses go
to heaven to report to God on the deeds of human beings.

"The one people fear most is dewa dapur (kitchen god) because
it is the god who knows them well. Therefore, they give the god
sweet cakes as offerings in the hope that the god's mouth will be
glued shut," Asminursoffian said.

His idea, however, is strongly denied by Lieus Sungkharisma, a
leader of the Indonesian Buddhist youth group.

"The offerings are not for the gods or goddesses, but for our
families. We bring home the food, which has been blessed," he
said.

"And I don't care whether the number of the offerings is odd
or even," he added.

Even though Chinese New Year's Day is not a national holiday,
businesses will apparently be affected. Most shops in Jakarta's
Chinatown and other parts of the city, as well as private
offices, will close. Some decide to close so that they can have
an extra long weekend because today is Sunday and the two days
after tomorrow are Idul Fitri holidays. But many Indonesian
Chinese do not work because they want to celebrate the New Year.

Yohan, whose parents own a textile shop in Senen market,
Central Jakarta, said the shop will close tomorrow because they
consider Chinese New Year's Day a holiday.

"It is a time to pay respect to the elders," he said.

But many close their businesses on Chinese New Year's Day
merely because they want to enjoy themselves.

"I will be damned if I won't close my shop on Imlek," a woman
in her late 30s said. "I'm going to have a party and jalan-jalan
(go out)," she added with a laugh.

Others are happy just because they don't have to work on New
Year's Day.

"I don't celebrate Imlek. But I'm glad my boss has decided to
close the office on New Year's Day. I will stay at home and
relax," a financial analyst of a private company said. (sim/14)