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