`Imlek' celebrations held in Yogyakarta mosque

Tarko Sudiarno, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

Despite threats from a conservative group, more than two hundred Muslims of Chinese descent for the first time held their New Year Imlek ceremonies in the Syuhada Mosque in Yogyakarta.

Also attending the cultural celebration organized by the Indonesian Muslim Chinese Brotherhood Association (PITI) were local figures from the Indonesian Council of Ulemas (MUI), Nadhlatul Ulama, Muhammadiyah and the provincial administration.

The celebration of the Lunar New Year, 2554 by the Chinese calendar, in the Mosque had previously been condemned by a hard- line group who threatened to create disturbances should the organizing committee go ahead with its plans.

The event went off peacefully, however, after the organizing committee won the support of moderate Muslim figures and succeeded in getting local Muslim leaders to attend the celebrations.

Syafri Sairin, who was the preacher for the event, attacked the hard-line group who opposed the celebration of Imlek in the mosque, saying the Lunar New Year was an annual cross-cultural event involving all ethnic groups in the city.

"Similar to the Javanese New year, which is celebrated in mosques in Java, the Chinese one can be also celebrated by Muslims of Chinese descent in their mosques. How could we possibly celebrate the 2003 Orthodox New Year in the Gajah Mada University mosque and not allow our Chinese brothers to celebrate their new year in their mosque. This would mean we were discriminating against them," he said.

Syafri, who is also the dean of the school of social sciences at Gajah Mada University, insisted that it was necessary to avoid the mistake of thinking that the Chinese New Year was a contradiction of Islam as it was a cultural rather than religious event.

The celebration of Imlek was based upon Confucianism, a philosophical teaching that was part of Chinese culture, and all Chinese people from different religious backgrounds celebrated the annual event.

"Therefore, local Muslims should not oppose the use of red paper lanterns and other red-colored ornamentation in the mosque. We should adopt multiculturalism in disseminating Islam to all ethnic groups with different cultural backgrounds.

"Javanese Muslims use their cultural attributes and ornaments to celebrate their New Year and Idul Fitri while those in North Sumatra used candles to mark important events," he said.

Safri, who was born and grew up in North Sumatra, said Indonesia should learn from other East Asian countries, like Japan, South Korea and China, on how to accept cultural pluralism and make it a national strength so as to build up the nation.

"A majority of the South Korean population are Protestants and Catholics but they celebrate Imlek annually in their own churches. But what is happening here when Muslim people in Indonesia suspect one another?" he asked.

The Chinese New Year was also celebrated by Chinese Christians in churches in the city last week. The Catholic church in Kotabaru held two masses to celebrate the New Year. Such acceptance has been a tradition in the church since it adopted and started promoting multiculturalism following the Second Vatican Council in the early 1960s.