'Imlek' rediscovered in Semarang

'Imlek' rediscovered in Semarang

Suherdjoko , The Jakarta Post, Semarang, Central Java

Wong Chao Sing was never as busy around this time of year just a couple of years ago. The owner of a shop located in Semarang's old Chinatown on Jl. Wotgandul Timur, was seen frantically serving customers trying to snap up paraphernalia to be used for the celebration of the Chinese New Year.

Candles and gold paper used for offerings to Buddha, silver papers to send prayers to ancestors and many other accessories in relation to the upcoming festivities are available in his shop.

This will only be the third year that Chinese-Indonesians have officially been allowed to celebrate the New Year.

In 1967 former president Soeharto issued a presidential decree banning all activities related to Chinese culture, following the 1965 coup attempt, that Soeharto blamed on the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), which he believed was associated with Communist China.

The discriminative decree was lifted in 2000 by then president Abdurrahman Wahid.

Today the Chinese-Indonesians in Semarang, which make up about 80,000 (will be confirmed), are preparing themselves to celebrate the Chinese New Year, or Imlek, that falls on Jan. 22.

A night market festival, called Pasar Imlek Semawis, is being held to welcome in the Year of the Monkey. It begins on Jan. 19 and will run through Jan. 21.

In previous years, so many vendors and Chinese cultural groups took part in the festival that their tents and stalls virtually covered Jl. Wotgandul, Jl. Sebandaran and Jl. Beteng -- the area previously known as Cap Kao King.

The event organizer Haryanto Halim said this year's event would feature the Chinatown culture in the past -- meant to be a unique tourist attraction too, initiated by the Semarang Chinatown Community for Tourism or Kopi Semawis.

Semawis is the royal Javanese term for Semarang. The name itself indicates an effort to acknowledge the ties between the Chinese and Javanese cultures.

The night market is also called ji kao meh. Ji kao is 29 and meh is night. The words mean that the event is being held on night of the 29th of the month.

Among the activities held during the event are an exhibition, a food bazaar and various art attractions. The sale of Imlek accessories and an exhibition of Chinese-Malay literature will be held on Gang Baru.

The food bazaar will serve traditional food of Chinatown and Semarang, like onde-onde, bakpao, and masakan nyonya (dishes influenced by the Hokkien, Malay and Javanese, like lontong cap go meh and nasi bakmoy.

Traditional beverages like jamu jun, jolobio and wedang tahu are also available.

"We will also make the longest cakwee (fried salty cake) and the tallest incense stick, which will be recorded in the Indonesian Records Museum," Haryanto said.

The performing arts activities will include wayang potehi, wushu, tan sin, yang khiem and gambang Semarang. Fortune tellers and sinshe (Chinese healers) will also be present.

The praying activities started a week before Imlek, with the Toa Pe Kong celebration, and will last until cap go meh or the 15th day of the New Year.

The Imlek festivities are also felt outside of Chinatown. Just look at Wito, whose face was wet with sweat as he worked hard to finish a barongsai, a mythical beast which looks like a lion. The Barongsai dance is a traditional Chinese art that has been widely performed in the celebration of the Chinese New Year across the country since the beginning of the Reform Era in 1998.

"We received an order to make some 30 barongsai for the celebrations," Wito's boss, Oei Eng Tek alias Sutikno Wiroutomo, an artist on Jl. Seteran Tengah, Semarang, told The Jakarta Post.

The order came from various places, from Medan in North Sumatra to Toli Toli in Central Sulawesi.

Eng Tek, who usually receives an order of less than eight barongsai a month, sells them for Rp 1.5 million each.

"They are not expensive. There are six barongsai workshops (in town) and I have to work against some healthy competition," said Eng Tek, who is assisted by five employees.

Meanwhile, the owner of Kie Ping candle factory, Yauw Ping Kwie alias Yoso Diharjo on Jl. Ciloksari said that his orders had increased by 30 percent ahead of the holidays.

"The order came from many towns in Java. The prices vary, depending on the size of the candles. A pack of the smallest candles, consisting of eight pairs, costs Rp 5,600, while the biggest one, two meters high, is Rp 3 million," he said.

Eng Tek and Ping Kwie are among those who continued to preserve the Chinese traditions despite the pressure under the New Order government that was in power for 32 years. They suffered a lot during the period.

The ban of Chinese culture had greatly affected the buildings with Chinese architecture as well. This was particularly noticeable in Chinatown.

Many buildings with Chinese architecture were partly demolished to make way for the road widening projects between 1970s and 1980s.

And Chinatown seemed to lose its beauty and history. You could still see buildings with Chinese architecture from the side of a river that passes in the area. But they are gradually disappearing too.

Temples are the ones that are well preserved. There are 24 temples in Semarang, mostly located in Chinatown. Among the oldest one is Thay Kak Sie, which gives a glimpse about the history of the arrival of the Chinese people on Java.

However, with the new spirit which comes along this New Year, besides the enlivening small-scale businesses in relation with the festivity, it is also hoped that all will feel the need to preserve the long neglected valuable archives here, including the legacies of culture, traditions and the property.