Chinese puppeteer back on stage after 32 years

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.