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)