Crushing the culture, taking up 'feng shui'

Crushing the culture, taking up 'feng shui'

JAKARTA (JP): Upon returning from a visit to Hong Kong in the
late 1970s, customs here attempted to seize some books written in
Chinese characters that I had brought back. When I demanded an
explanation for his behavior, the customs official in question
pointed to the declaration form that I had signed and just handed
to him. I admit that I had not read it properly, but when I did I
was outraged. Chinese printed material was included in the same
list of prohibited items as "fire arms, pornographic material and
drugs".

Granted, Chinese medicine, which was also mentioned, is
potentially dangerous, but shouldn't Chinese printed material be
broken down into several categories rather than be subjected to
such a gross generalization? Perhaps the customs officer agreed
with my point because when I told him that I needed the books to
teach university students, I was allowed to take them into the
country.

By that time I had already become used to the systematic
persecution of Chinese-Indonesians. Our religion was not
recognized as an official religion, our festivals were
prohibited, Chinese schools were closed down, women were
prevented from wearing the cheong-sam, the elegant Chinese-style
dress for the modern woman. Some women 'adjusted'; they dyed
their hair or had the shape of their eyes changed.

I once saw a military general performing some exotic movements
on the golf course. "So you know how to do Wai Tang Kung?" I
asked him.

"Senam sehat pagi," he replied, adding: "Well it's the same
thing, but you are not supposed to use the Chinese name," he said
before moving off quickly after realizing that I was winding up
for an argument.

Despite these frustrations, life could still throw up
surprises. Enrollments for Chinese studies at the university
where I taught increased and the majority of the students were
not Chinese-Indonesians.

Some wanted to become diplomats, others were attracted to the
culture, still others wanted to learn more about women's roles.
They became even more enthusiastic after they discovered they
could obtain better bargains from the merchants in Glodok when
they spoke in Chinese.

Even more puzzling was the sudden interest in the Chinese
animal zodiac in the 1980s. People suddenly wanted to know which
animal corresponded to the year of their birth and what kind of
personality they were supposed to have. Friendships strengthened
on the basis of these bestial relations and prospective husbands
and wives sought marriage advice on the basis of their Chinese
zodiac. One man claiming to have the zodiac of a "murky dragon"
even inquired if he should continue to go out with a "jolly pig".

"If the zodiac says that we are incompatible, we had better
stop it here so we have no regrets later," he said.

When it was announced that 1988 would be the year of the
golden dragon, couples stopped practicing birth control so that
they could have a child in that auspicious year. Will there be
another baby boom in the year 2000 when the dragon rises again?

Feng Shui has become the new trend in recent years and now
houses, office buildings and apartment blocks are built according
to this Oriental art of geomancy. Once I entered a house where
the stairs to the second floor were so wide that I had to go up
crawling.

"Feng Shui," the owner explained. And for the sake of this
ancient art, the family and their guests had to perform some
difficult exercises to climb the stairs.

In the last couple of years many new Chinese restaurants have
opened serving all kinds of foods from all parts of China,
including ingredients which are supposed to bring longevity and
health like bird nests, bear paws, monkey meat etc.

So much for the New Order. And what of the era of reform? It
seems that Feng Shui masters will continue to reap their
harvests.

A young man who was laid off because the bank where he worked
closed down told me that he had started to study old books which
he inherited from his father. Now he is helping clients who want
to rebuild their shops in-keeping with the principles of Feng
Shui in order to keep evil forces away and bring in a new wave of
good luck.

The next business idea in which entrepreneurs could catch onto
could be hair salons, particularly those specializing in dying
women's hair, since many Chinese-Indonesian women may now want to
do this to hide their identity and protect themselves.

-- Myra Sidharta