Chinese puppeteer back on stage after 32 years

By Ali Budiman

SEMARANG, Central Java (JP): The new government's tolerance toward anything authentically Chinese after three decades of stamping it taboo, has not only made a political impact. For some people, it simply means they can return to their long-forbidden art.

Thio Tiong Gie, a dalang (puppeteer) of the Chinese hand- puppet show or wayang potehi, is one of them. The 67-year-old who lives in Semarang could hardly believe at first that he was free to recite verses on the ancient Chinese kingdom or act out suspenseful war scenes using his puppets.

Thirty-three years ago when the New Order regime under president Soeharto came to power, wayang potehi shows were banned in Indonesia. Thio was at the time the chairman of the association of wayang potehi puppeteers.

The sudden ban on the puppet performance was imposed at the same time the government began a long and senseless prohibition on the use of Chinese characters, names, and on Chinese-linked education, arts and sciences.

The spirit of hate kindled by the New Order regime and excessive suspicion that communist causes could be inflamed within the Chinese community, led to the repression of the Chinese-Indonesian culture blanketed by the euphemism assimilation.

For Thio, this simply meant that he must shelve the puppets. Forced to look for another job, the father of four sons and three daughters opened a welding workshop.

But even after taking up a different profession and in shorter breath than 33 years ago, Thio's passion for puppetry remained intact.

While he is staging a performance, his sharp and concentrating gaze accompanies the stamping feet as he balances the movements of his fingers wrapped in the cloth of the potehi puppets. His normally husky voice is transformed into a sharp, strident and authoritatively heavy voice.

In his hands the puppets are given souls. The dynamic movements come with expressive dialogs. During war scenes, the potehi puppets turn upside down displaying Kung Fu martial art slashing swords and thrusting spears in all directions.

Chinese tambur (drums), gembreng (gongs), rebab (two-stringed instruments), guitars and several musical instruments made of wood and bamboo, resound repeatedly, creating an atmosphere of ancient China. The mini stage, dominated by red, fleetingly resembles an altar. Banners are placed with Chinese characters containing words like wisdom on the supreme deity, the nation's prosperity and excerpts of verses taken from the related story.

The wayang potehi relates Chinese historical tales, such as Sie Jin Kui, a folk hero who fights tenaciously against tyranny and cowardice before finally ascending to the throne. The story develops extensively and continues on to Sie Teng San, the crown prince of the next generation.

In the course of China's history of civilization, many philosophical teachings and the school of thought have experienced their ups and downs. Confucianism is one of the most influential teachings beside Taoism and Buddhism. The wisdom of K'ung Fu-tzu (Confucius)'s teachings is the dominant theme in the epic performances of wayang potehi .

Confucius lived from 551 to 479 B.C. Elementary school children learn it by rote, and its philosophical essence became a guidance of wisdom in life.

Thio said potehi stories contain lessons of wisdom, filial respect, the battle of good versus bad and the principles of ancestral culture.

"The New Order government that indiscriminately banned Chinese art in Indonesia like wayang potehi was deplorable and arbitrary," Thio said.

"Wayang potehi was performed in a mix of Javanese and Indonesian. It is different from the wayang potehi in China's Hokkian dialect performed in Singapore. Ethnic art should not be linked with politics. It has the potential to enrich the treasure that can be acculturated with our culture."

The overblown mistrust toward anything of the Chinese culture was unfounded, he said.

"We are born in Indonesia, we eat and drink and live our social life, and even die in the land. This is the land we love," he said.

"It is only coincidental that we have a different ancestral culture with unique artforms like wayang potehi, an entertaining and equally enlightening show," he said.

Discovery

Potehi is driven from the words po, meaning cloth, te, pocket, and hi, puppet. It literally means a puppet made of cloth. Thio Tiong Gie learned this in his early childhood, but only at 25 did he give his first performance in Cianjur, West Java.

Thio is the oldest son of four brothers and four sisters. His parents were well-established cloth traders in Demak, Central Java. In 1942 during the Japanese occupation, the family was forced to flee to Semarang after the riots. They took with them practically nothing but the clothes they had on.

On their way to Semarang, the group of refugees had to pass a damaged bridge. Among the refugees, his father, Thio Thian Soe, was the only one who volunteered to carry a woman with leprosy. As it turned out, the woman was a sister of a tobacco entrepreneur named Kho Pun Seng, who then gave the Thio family shelter in refuge. To survive, the family started trading in used commodities.

Thio Tiong Gie finished elementary school that used Chinese as the language. He could not attend junior high school due to financial constraint. The junior high school's principal, Thio Pun Lip, sympathized with the young man's plight and gave him a Chinese dictionary. He told Thio to read the dictionary every day as a substitute for formal education.

Toward mid-1955 the Thio family started selling bakpao (steamed buns). One day, Thio found among a pile of old magazines used as wrapping paper a well-worn book in Chinese titled Sam Kok (Three States). He was soon immersed in the book, drawing the attention of one of his customers.

The man, Oei Seng Tui, turned out to be in the wayang potehi business. He asked Thio to summarize the story he was reading. Oei wanted to know if Thio had really mastered Chinese. He then recommended Thio to be trained, assisting a puppeteer in a number of shows. It was not long before Thio Tiong Gie became a renowned puppeteer of wayang potehi.

Thio married a girl from Muntilan, Central Java, who bore four boys and three girls. In 1986, his wife died.

Wayang potehi is now performed in Indonesian but the stories are still taken from books published in Hong Kong and China. The recitations are also still in the original Hokkian dialect.

Thio's regular reading of newspapers has enriched his vocabulary of the Indonesian language. He speaks in a thick Javanese-ethnic Chinese accent.

While still in good health Thio is determined to preserve the wayang potehi tradition. He is in negotiations with a number of temples to order a set of wayang potehi from Bandung. He is also exploring the possibility of establishing a training center for wayang potehi puppetry, especially for the younger generation.

Thio also continues to perform in every city, charging about Rp 500,000 (about US$66) per night. The cost for making the stage, installing the sound system, transportation and accommodation are paid by the customer.